Royal Chaos
by Albertson
Summary: Lucy has found an extra-dimensional artifact that enables her to do actual magic. When it starts talking to her, whispering ideas, she finds herself tempted by this darkness. What's worse is that the keepers of order in the Loud House, Lincoln and Lori, are out of town on a retreat. Can Lucy resist, or will she succumb to darkness that is evil even by her standards?
1. Retreat

**Retreat**

Lori and Lincoln were being driven in Vanzilla to Fairway University, where Lori won a spot on the university golf team. Their father, Lynn Sr. insisted on seeing them off. After an initial check from Lana that she was good to go, Vanzilla was packed with their luggage and fuelled up for the long drive, both there and back.

"Are you sure you'll be alright without me?" Lori asked.

"It's just two weeks. I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, you've earned this" Lynn Sr. replied.

"Yeah, you're right. It's literally only two weeks. What's the worst that could happen?" Lori remarked.

"Lori got an invite to a two-week golfing retreat at Fairway University, since she's on the team, and I'm going along as her caddy. It took quite a bit of convincing on Mum and Dad's part to make her see that the house wouldn't fall apart without her. Also, the prospect of seeing her 'boo-boo-bear' may have helped sway her decision" Lincoln explained to the readers.

"Are you excited to see Ronnie Anne?" Lori inquired, a little hinting in her tone.

"Yeah, and the rest of the Casagrandes" Lincoln responded. "Whilst we're there, the university retreat grounds also offer great transport links to Great Lakes City, so we promised the Casagrandes we'd drop in on them whenever we had a free moment, like when our rooms were being sorted" Lincoln added, also to the readers.

"Well, we're here" Lynn Sr. announced, indicating their arrival into the city. After following the map Lynn Sr. prepared for half an hour before giving up and using the sat-nav, they arrived at the retreat. Coach Niblick was waiting for them.

"Ah, Lori. Good to see you again. Your rooms are still being prepared, so you're free to have a wander around the fields or take a trip into the city with these" Niblick greeted and handed Lori and Lincoln their bus passes. "These get you free passage into and out of the city for the duration of this retreat" Niblick outlined.

"Well, Lori, I take it you'll be wanting to see Bobby right about now, so I'll be on my way. See you two in a couple weeks" Lynn Sr. said.

"See you, dad" Lori and Lincoln waved goodbye together. In Vanzilla, Lynn Sr. drove back to Royal Woods.

"Want to drop in on the Casagrandes?" Lori asked Lincoln.

"Sure do" Lincoln responded.

Back at Royal Woods, Albert, Monogram and Vanessa emerged out of the portal. From everything Albert had told them about the Uncharted Realms, Monogram and Vanessa expected something along the lines of weird and unusual, not south-eastern Michigan. Nevertheless, they had a purpose here, and the sooner they got what they came for, the sooner they could all go home.

"I don't understand why the wand would come here, of all places. This world hardly screams magical" Vanessa observed.

"Of course, it makes going un-noticed very easy. Although the magic here does feel unfamiliar. I would rather not use it if I didn't have to" Albert replied.

"This is Bill we're talking about. There may come a point where using your powers may be necessary, so don't be shy now" Monogram suggested.

"Alright, but let's be covert about it. I doubt anyone here even knows magic exists" Albert conceded.

"Magic aside, the wand could be anywhere in this realm. We'll need a place to hunker down and start the search properly" Vanessa pointed out.

"Agreed, and that abandoned building is as good a place as any to set up shop and this town does not get any smaller while we wait, so this is also a good place to begin our search" Albert explained.

"Since we have interdimensional comms back, you think we could get some support from Excalibur?" Monogram asked.

"We are trying to be discreet, although I will have Kilstone send over equipment and supplies. We'll also need a decent cover. Abandoned buildings tend to attract squatters and salvagers, no matter what dimension you're in" Albert answered. Vanessa was looking at the building where they would set up their 'home base' and had an idea.

"We could turn this place into a gas station. No-one looks too deeply into those. Plus, it could generate the money we need to stay afloat" Vanessa suggested.

"Let's do it" Monogram agreed.

"First, we'll need to tidy this place up a bit" Albert said. Once they got inside, Albert used his magic to move some furniture around and get rid of all the clutter and the rats that had made their home there prior and, once Kilstone had portalled in some basic surveillance equipment and the food and gas they needed to maintain their cover, the No Stop Gas Station was open for business. Monogram got the name from one of Phineas and Ferb's ideas. O.W.C.A. had a whole file dedicated to those boys, as did Excalibur.

At the Loud House back-yard, Lynn was warming up for her upcoming soccer game against the Hazeltucky team tomorrow. She was extra intensive about this, because the last time Royal Woods played Hazeltucky, they cheated all the way through. This earned them a suspension for a year, and they were warned that if they were caught again, they'd be permanently banned from all future sporting competitions. Despite this, Royal Woods still won, and Lynn knew from experience that they would be back for revenge. Her mother, Rita, came outside.

"Your father's back from the city. Dinner's in a half hour" Rita called out.

"Coming!" Lynn called back and went inside. She was done with her exercises anyway and could use some body fuel. Once dinner was prepared, everyone sat down to eat. Lynn Sr. started off the dinner conversation.

"So, LJ, ready to crush Hazeltucky tomorrow?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"You bet. I'm still bitter from last time" Lynn answered.

"Didn't you win last time?" Lisa observed.

"Yeah, but I hate cheaters. They ruin the sport for everybody" Lynn responded.

"I still don't understand why they're letting them play tomorrow" Rita stated.

"They're on final warning. They wouldn't dare risk getting caught again" Lynn assured.

"I wouldn't bet on it, dude. Isn't their sponsor super connected or something?" Luna inquired.

"Money can't buy everything, dear" Lynn Sr. replied.

"Don't worry, if push comes to shove, I can always dig up some dirt" Lola volunteered.

"I'd rather not. I like to win my way" Lynn rejected.

"I'm not worried. I'm sure you'll soccer to them. You'll give their team the boot" Luan punned. Everyone just groaned. "Oooooo, red card on the field" she added.

"I'm sure you'll do great, sweetie. After all, you've worked so hard" Rita commented.

"On a different note, Lori and Lincoln have settled into their retreat quite nicely. Last I checked, they were going to visit the Casagrandes" Lynn Sr. changed the subject.

"Question, what are they retreating from?" Leni asked.

"They're most likely getting away from school. Lousy truants" Lisa said.

"Now, now, Lisa. Lincoln has volunteered to test the school's new online lesson structure while he's there, so he's not completely missing out" Rita informed.

"Plus, Lori's participating in the college taster programme as part of this retreat. She'll sit in some college classes for extra credit" Lynn Sr. explained.

"Although, most likely, she'll be with her 'boo-boo bear' and Lincoln with Ronnie Anne" Luna observed.

"Long distance relationships aren't easy. I think it's nice that they get this time together" Rita said. Everyone had finished eating and left to do whatever it was they did in the evenings.

Back at Great Lakes City, Lori and Lincoln were at the Casagrandes, dropping in as they said they would. In preparation, Rosa had made her usual dinner for twenty for just two and Hector had cleared Bobby's work schedule for the day. Lori and Lincoln had buzzed their apartment and were let in. Upon arrival, they were greeted by hugs from Bobby, Ronnie Anne and CJ.

"Babe! I can't believe I get you for two whole weeks. How was the trip?" Bobby asked, overjoyed at the reunion.

"Dad got lost trying to find the retreat, but otherwise it was great. It's been too long, boo-boo bear" Lori replied. Lincoln and Ronnie Anne had a less affectionate, but still warm, reunion talk.

"Lincoln, it's great you're here. You have to meet this new neighbour kid that just moved in. She's awesome" Ronnie Anne greeted.

"Sure, that sounds fun" Lincoln responded. CJ came running up to Lincoln, toy sword in hand.

"Yay! My first mate is back!" CJ declared.

"OK, pleasure to be here, Captain, but can I eat first? I'm starving" Lincoln play-requested.

"Sure, but save room for dessert. Abuela's making strawberry tart cake" CJ granted, leaving Lincoln salivating at the thought. He ate enough to hold him over until dessert, as did Lori. Knowing Rosa, that left more than enough left to feed the entire Loud House five times over. Another knock on the door and Rosa let in a girl Lincoln didn't recognise and assumed this was the neighbour kid Ronnie Anne mentioned.

"Hey, Sid. What's up?" Ronnie Anne inquired.

"I need a place to lay low for a while. Mum's bringing home the snake from the zoo and keeping her in my room because Adelaide's too scared" Sid explained.

"In a box, I hope" Ronnie Anne said.

"Oh, don't worry. His cage is sealed tight" Sid assured. At that moment, she noticed the presence of a boy she had never met but has seen at least once before. She couldn't help but be curious. She started examining the boy up close. "Hmmmmm, white hair, orange polo, you must be Lincoln" Sid concluded.

"That's me. Are you the neighbour kid Ronnie Anne told me about?" Lincoln probed.

"That's me. Call me Sid, everyone else does. Are you aware Ronnie Anne has a picture of you with her in a heart-shaped frame on her bedroom wall?" Sid inquired.

"Yeah, I was there when it was put up. But Ronnie Anne is not my girlfriend" Lincoln answered.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to assume. It's just Ronnie Anne talks about you and Royal Woods a lot, so I thought you two were an item. Either that, or really close friends" Sid replied.

"The second one. Don't worry about it, everyone assumes that, it's no big deal. Come on, we should show Lincoln the apartment building's new hang-out room" Ronnie Anne suggested. In the Bodega, Bobby was bringing Lori up to speed on everything that had happened since their last visit, from meeting the Changs to Sergio's late night parties in the store.

"Yeah, about those. Sergio may have been overly attached to you because he ate a cookie laced with love potion. In my defence, I was trying to convince you not to move away" Lori confessed.

"It's no biggie. Sergio's staying with Ronnie Anne now and she has a way to keep him under control" Bobby forgave. They both laughed this off and continued to enjoy their time together. Just then, Carl came into the Bodega, having heard that Lori had come to visit.

"Lori, mi amor, it thrills my heart to hear you'll be spending two weeks gracing this humble, romantic soul with your presence in this city. Allow me to take you to a candle-lit dinner in the finest establishment to mark your first of many eventful days here" Carl tried to woo Lori. He had also gone to the extra effort of drawing on a moustache.

"WHO GOT INTO MY EYELINER?!" yelled Carlota.

"Errrr…maybe next time" Carl said hastily and ran out of the store. Lori and Bobby laughed this off as well.

In the apartment building, Sid and Ronnie Anne showed Lincoln their accidental discovery of a hidden room in the back of the laundry room. It was decorated like a typical hang-out room, but Lincoln could not help but be curious about the sign-up sheet.

"Well, pretty much all the tenants had problems finding space for themselves, so when we found this place, we offered it up to everyone as their own personal place to do whatever, in half hour intervals, of course" Ronnie Anne explained.

"And it operates on a first come, first served basis?" Lincoln asked.

"Exactly" Sid clarified.

"Cool. What do you guys do down here?" Lincoln asked.

"Show him" Sid suggested. Ronnie Anne booted up the K-Pop band video and she and Sid proceeded to demonstrate the routine they had been practicing. Lincoln gave applause when they finished.

"You can still pull off some great moves" Lincoln complimented.

"I was a regular high-scorer at Gus' Games N' Grub back home" Ronnie Anne replied.

"Joint high scorer, right by yours truly" Lincoln bragged. Sid chuckled at this fact.

"That I would've liked to see" Sid remarked.

"Find me an arcade with a dance game and we'll be happy to show you" Lincoln offered.

"You are on" Ronnie Anne challenged. Before they could make arrangements, Lincoln's phone rang.

"Hello? We'll be right there, thanks" Lincoln said and hung up. "That was the retreat. Our rooms are ready, so Lori and I are going to go unpack. It was nice meeting you, Sid" Lincoln explained.

"Yeah, I have to go too. The snake will probably need feeding and it's my turn" Sid added.

"Too bad Lana's not here, she would love to help with that" Lincoln commented.

"I still can't believe you have ten sisters. I have my hands full with just one" Sid said.

"You learn to deal" Lincoln responded

"Need any help unpacking?" Ronnie Anne volunteered.

"Sure, that'd be great" Lincoln accepted.

At the bus stop, Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, Lori and Bobby got on the bus to the retreat grounds, Bobby having made the same offer as Ronnie Anne. Once they arrived and everything was unpacked, Bobby and Ronnie Anne were heading back to the Casagrande market.

"Lincoln, I found that arcade you wanted. We should definitely go and see if I can still own you. Sid can be our referee" Ronnie Anne stated.

"Don't count on beating me that easily. Clyde's been helping me keep my skills sharp" Lincoln shot back. As Ronnie Anne boarded the bus back, she took one more look at Lincoln.

"I'm glad you're here. I missed you" Ronnie Anne said.

"I missed you too" Lincoln replied. Bobby and Lori were having their own conversation separate from their siblings.

"Two weeks. Are you sure the Loud House can survive without you to keep order?" Bobby inquired. Lori chuckled at this.

"Boo-boo bear, it's just a couple weeks. Besides, I'll be off to college soon so the family will have to learn to live without me sometime. It's not like, the house or the town will literally fall apart without me" Lori dismissed.

"If you say so. I'm just stoked I get a whole fortnight with you, babe" Bobby said, he kissed Lori goodbye and boarded the bus with Ronnie Anne.

"Two weeks. What's the worst that could happen?" Lori asked herself as she and Lincoln prepared to turn in for the night.

Lucy was walking through the cemetery, as she often did at the cusp of the evening. She did not fear getting lost, as she knew the cemetery like the back of her hand. Even blindfolded, she could find her way around. Only this time, she heard whispering coming from one of the crypts. She went to investigate, the whispering getting louder as she approached the crypt. When she stopped, she found something that looked like a wand on the central plinth. The whispering got louder, tempting her to pick it up. She did so and waved it a few times, egged on by the unknown whispers. As she waved, she noticed the trees outside moving their branches in time with the motion. To check for coincidence, she waved the wand again. Again, the tree branches moved. She eyed the object, a grin on her face, eager at the prospect of doing real magic.

"Wicked" remarked Lucy, oblivious to the laughter echoing from the wand.

Back at the Casagrandes, Rosa was making her night-time rounds, wishing the kids sweet dreams and tucking the younger ones in when, out of no-where, she got the shivers. Hector noticed this and got concerned.

"Rosa, mi amor, is everything alright?" Hector asked.

"No, something somewhere is going terribly wrong. I can feel it. A darkness is coming" Rosa forewarned, a heightened sense of fear in her tone.

Author's note: This is my first Loud House story, so please be nice. I have watched several Loud House episodes numerous times, both to get the mannerisms of each of the siblings right, and because I'm a freak. Since this is the first chapter, let me get the obvious out of the way for anyone just tuning in, the first chapter of any of my stories is used to set the foundation upon which the rest of the story will be built on, so if it is not as action-packed or not a lot happens, you know why. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing, The Loud House belongs to Nickelodeon and…..you know what, I don't know who else to credit. Sure, Chris Savino created the show, but he's not part of it anymore, and rightly so. If anyone could comment or PM me telling me what is appropriate in these circumstances, please do. Also, I am going to involve the Casagrandes more and more as this story goes on, and I need to know the correct spelling for the term 'miha'. I never took Spanish at school, I got 'mi amor' from Google Translate, so apologies if I get anything wrong.


	2. Dawn of fear

**Dawn of fear**

As she made her way home to turn in for the night, Lucy could not help but examine her new find more closely. She was familiar with all sorts of spirits and supernatural beings, but this one mystified her. In all her time, she had never come across a being in the shape of a triangle with a single eye, yet here it was, immortalised in the form of a wand, and an actual magic wand at that, not one of those souvenir store playthings. She also thought she heard whispering coming from it but thought nothing of it. She decided to keep what she found a secret from her family, not that they'd understand anyway. Once she arrived home and made her way to her room, Lynn was there, reviewing her game plan for tomorrow.

"Great-grandma Harriet have any interesting stories for you?" Lynn inquired.

"Not this time, although she does wish you good luck" Lucy answered. At this point, Fangs, Lucy's pet bat, started freaking out and flying about the place. Lynn opened the window and Fangs immediately left the room.

"What's up with him? He's not usually like this" Lynn noticed.

"Beats me. Something must be scaring him" Lucy guessed. It was too late in the night to dwell on this, so Lucy got into bed, as did Lynn, and nodded off to sleep. Lucy was having the weirdest dream. She was in the castle from her favourite show, Vampires of Melancholia, but there was no sign of Edwin, Griselda or Tristan. She went over to the mirror, but there was no reflection. Instead, the same triangular being that was on the wand she found was looking back at her.

"Hi there, Spooky" came a voice from behind her. Lucy jumped with a fright as she turned around and saw the same being. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, giving people heart attacks is your specialty, not mine. Besides, I'm not going to hurt you" he added. Lucy could not make sense of what was happening. This was a dream, right? So, who was this being that appeared before her?

"Who are you?" Lucy inquired.

"What, you haven't heard of me?" he asked. Lucy shook her head. "Name's Bill Cipher and I made that wand you found. It only grants its power to those it deems worthy to use it. Guess it sees something in you" Bill explained. Lucy could not help but blush at the compliment.

"Why me? I'm just a kid" Lucy probed.

"I'm guessing because you have some innate magical ability locked away somewhere. Who knows, that wand has a mind of its own. It sort of does its own thing" Bill answered.

"And it wants me to be its wielder?" Lucy theorised.

"Bingo! Congratulations, you get to do actual magic, not parlor tricks or card readings, although foresight is a power the wand grants, should you agree to be taught" Bill clarified.

"Wait, what" Lucy said.

"Well, the wand can only grant power, it can't teach you to use it. That's where I come in. I can show you how to use your new-found power to its full potential and rise above your siblings. What do you say?" Bill offered. Lucy thought about this. The prospect of doing magic was too strong to ignore. But at the same time, could she trust this being she had only just met? Regardless, nothing worthwhile comes without risk.

"I'll do it. Please, teach me your mystical arts" Lucy accepted.

"A simple yes would've sufficed" Bill responded. He held out a fiery, blue hand. Lucy shook it and a gentle, blue fire streaked across her arm and all across her body. It didn't feel hot, more like invigorating, like she had just eaten a whole plate of her Dad's blood sausages. It felt good and she also felt like a new Lucy. "From this point onwards, your training will begin. Whenever I can impart wisdom and guidance, I will appear before you, but only you will be able to see and hear me and we will speak with thoughts, not words" Bill outlined.

"Understood" Lucy acknowledged and she woke up. It was still night and Lynn was still asleep. She took out the wand and gazed at it for a few seconds. "You and I will be great friends" Lucy thought to herself, put the wand safely away in her pocket and went back to sleep.

Things got even stranger at breakfast. Usually, when the family sat down to eat, the pets were in the room with them. But this time, they chose to take their meal in the living room.

"That happened last night, as well. Fangs just fled the room like there was a blood drive somewhere" Lynn observed.

"Maybe the animals are picking up some bad vibes. My reptiles were acting much the same way, very withdrawn and scared" Lana added.

"It is a commonly accepted fact that animals can pick up on details we humans cannot. When something is wrong, they can pick up on it. This can only mean something here is going to or about to go terribly wrong" Lisa explained.

"Wow, dude, that's deep, and here I was thinking Lucy was the 'doom and gloom' sis" Luna remarked.

"Whatever it is, it better not screw up my game. I really have to crush those Hazeltucky jerks today" Lynn said.

"Got your game plan sorted, kiddo?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Locked and loaded, Dad. They won't know what hit them" Lynn answered.

At the Casagrandes, Rosa was trying to get a better sense of what she experienced last night. Every fiber of her being told her something terrible was about to happen. After she had served breakfast to her family, she got out her cards and tried to 'see' what was to come. She drew the first card.

"The Fool, but he is upside down, symbolising fear, not laughter, will be spread" Rosa predicted. She drew the next card. "The Devil, in the shadow of the fear-monger. What is his scheme? What consequences will there be?" Rosa inquired to herself. Finally, she drew the last card. "The Moon, who follows in the wake of the Devil. There is an unknown element involved" Rosa concluded.

"Fortune-telling again, Abuela?" Carlos asked, with a hint of scepticism. As a man of science, he had always disputed the accuracy of tarot card readings, believing them to be mere parlor tricks and con games.

"The cards do not lie, Carlos. There is something looming. But what it is, I cannot be certain" Rosa answered.

"Well, as long as this latest prediction of catastrophe happens far away from here, I'll let others deal with it" Carlos scoffed and left to teach his classes. Ronnie Anne, however, was a bit more fearful. She always had a suspicion that Abuela was gifted in certain magical arts and if she sensed impending doom, well, Ronnie Anne was not letting Lincoln out of her sight, if the doom she predicted was going to take place in the city.

At the retreat, Lincoln was logging on to his school's website and trying the first online lesson. It was a simple set of lesson materials, at the end of which was an interactive quiz to see whether or not he had taken the material in. After he was done with the day's tasks, he video called Clyde during lunch to see how he and his friends were doing.

"Hey guys, got any plans after school?" Lincoln probed.

"We're going to check out this new convenience store that just opened up. It's called No Stop and according to word of mouth, their prices are better than Flip's" Stella responded.

"That store came out of nowhere, almost like magic" Liam added.

"A new store just pops up and does all this great business? Seems a little suspicious to me" Zach stated.

"Or just great marketing. Flip could learn a thing or two about treating paying customers with a smile, not just seeing them as wallets with legs" Clyde reasoned.

"Plus, their machines actually work, not get broken even more when Flip tries to 'fix' them" Rusty chimed in.

"Wish I could be there. Hey, Clyde, do you think you could pop over to Lynn's soccer game and wish her good luck for me?" Lincoln requested.

"Sure, I'll even drop her off a little something from No Stop. You know how much Lynn likes her body fuel" Clyde acknowledged.

"Lincoln, Ronnie Anne and Sid are here" Lori called.

"Coming" Lincoln called back. "Got to go, guys, I'm heading to a city arcade with Ronnie Anne and her new friend, Sid. Let me know how the game goes, Clyde" Lincoln clarified and terminated the call.

"Lincoln has two girls on his arm now? Must be my influence" Rusty bragged, but no-one believed that he had anything to do with Lincoln's lady success.

After school, the Loud family, minus Lori and Lincoln, were at Lynn's soccer game with the Hazeltucky team. Clyde, the honorary sibling, stopped by to wish the team good luck and decided to stay after the Louds offered him a spot in the stands. As soon as Lynn's team took to the field, everyone in the stands cheered as loud as they were able. Lucy, on the other hand, was occupied with something, or rather, someone, else. Her new friend decided to make his first appearance.

"Do you feel that?" Bill asked. Now that he mentioned it, Lucy did get an odd sense when she took her place in the stands. "Here's a free lesson for you, hearing people's thoughts" Bill added.

"Like mind reading?" Lucy probed.

"A rather crude, but accurate term. I can show you how to brush the surface thoughts of another person. Given practice, you can use this technique to learn anyone's deepest, darkest secrets" Bill explained.

"OK, how do we proceed?" Lucy inquired, eager to learn more of her new-found powers.

"Close your eyes. Feel this field around you. Take in the sounds you hear. The cheering of the crowd, the blowing of the whistle, the rustle of the grass as the players run along it" Bill instructed. Lucy did so. As she did this, she thought she could hear an echo. "Ah, there it is. Listen deeper, past your sister's motions and breathing" Bill added. Lucy did this as well and the echo she heard had more of a sound to it than it did previously.

"Zigzag past first two defenders, kick at a 45 degree angle from the goalie. Shoot, score. LJ brings it home once again. Possession change, steal from second striker, pass to Margo, she shoots, she scores. Team play". This went on for some time before Lucy realised she could hear Lynn's thoughts.

"Woah, that was awesome" Lucy thought to herself.

"Do not get distracted. Now turn your attention to Clyde" Bill guided. Now it was time to see what Clyde was thinking.

"Good thing Dr. Lopez taught me about adaptation, or I would've never coped with Lincoln being gone for two whole weeks. I hope he doesn't find a new best friend in the city. Careful, Clyde, or you'll spiral again" more hidden insecurities continued to manifest themselves in Clyde's psyche.

"Yeesh, that kid's got issues, but enough of that, now focus on the referee" Bill directed. Another dose of mind reading revealed some very salacious details.

"This bribe money from Hazeltucky is sure to get me a fancier car now. Goodbye shed inherited from family, hello Italian sports car. Who's the favourite now, Mum?"

"The levels of human depravity never cease to disgust and fascinate me" Bill remarked.

"He's on the take" Lucy observed.

"It would appear that way. This match was decided before your sis even set foot on the field. Question is, what do we do about it?" Bill inquired. The situation got even more obvious when a blatant foul from the Hazeltucky team went without so much as a chirp from the corrupt referee. The crowd was getting angry at the decision calling on display. The Royal Woods team called a time-out and everyone huddled in.

"Coach, what's going on? That other player totally sideswiped me and the ref didn't even bat an eye!" Paula asked impatiently.

"This is just a theory, but I think the referee's taken a bribe. Wouldn't expect anything less from Hazeltucky, so we just need to keep out of their way as much as possible without losing ground. We're banking on you, Lynn, to score as much as possible" the coach briefed. Back on the stands, Bill and Lucy were still discussing the situation.

"We can't expose him, we have no proof, no hard proof anyway" Lucy dismissed.

"What if he confessed? With enough coercion, I think he'll see the error of his ways" Bill suggested.

"Can't see that happening" Lucy rebutted. Bill sighed.

"What do you have in your possession right now?" Bill asked, referring to the wand. "Good, use that along with what I've taught you and think of something creative to loosen his tongue" Bill said and vanished. It was half-time and Lucy used the old bathroom excuse to separate herself from the rest of the family. Instead of using the facilities, Lucy instead tracked down the referee and confronted him.

"So, rough crowd out there today. Wonder what's gotten them so riled up" Lucy probed rhetorically.

"What's it to you, kid?" the referee spat back rather rudely.

"Oh, I already know the reason. How much?" Lucy asked.

"What?" the referee replied.

"How much did Hazeltucky offer you to swing the game in their favour?" Lucy probed again.

"That is a very serious accusation, and I'd think carefully before you repeat as such" the referee cautioned.

"I think I'm sure of it, thanks to my little friend here" Lucy affirmed and took out the wand.

"Unless that thing is hard evidence that I'm on the take, you got nothing" the referee goaded. He made to leave, but he saw someone blocking his way. It was his mum.

"This is why I always favoured your brother. He was honest, true to himself and brought glory to our family" she chided. Then his brother appeared.

"I was always better than you. What was it the other kids called you at school? Second best? Runner-up? No wonder Father never loved you" he taunted. Then the man himself showed up.

"Well, what do we have here? I always knew you'd amount to nothing. Explain to me how your brother ends up a Harvard law professor while you're here taking kickbacks from middle school football teams!" the father yelled. Then, images of his childhood popped up in his head.

"How are you doing this?! HOW!" the referee asked desperately. The images didn't stop, however. The elementary school science fair. He had brought a baking soda volcano, but his brother brought a potato generator, which won first while his volcano got second. Next, mid-terms. He passed with a good 86%, but his brother got 90%. On and on, images of his brother out-performing him at everything in sports and academics raced in his head, until they all suddenly stopped, leaving him a crumpled mess on the floor, half crying, half screaming. Lucy then approached him.

"Confess, or I will make it so that is all you see and hear for the rest of your days, until you beg for release" Lucy threatened.

"H-h-how…w-w-who are you?" the referee probed.

"You can call me The Dread Mistress" Lucy responded and the referee turned tail and ran in the other direction. The illusions she conjured seemed to have the desired effect, as she could see the referee talking to a panel of officials in attendance, who then talked to the Royal Woods coach. As Lucy made her way back to the stands, Bill was impressed with what he saw.

"The Dread Mistress? Catchy name, how did you think of it?" Bill complimented.

"It just occurred to me. But that wasn't the best part. Scaring him, making him sweat, that was the best" Lucy recollected.

"There are a lot of people out there that could use such a scare. Stick with me, kid and we'll do extraordinary things" Bill said.

"I look forward to it" Lucy replied with eagerness. Everyone was wondering what had just happened. The referee comes running onto the field looking like he saw a ghost, talks with people in suits and suddenly the game is halted. Questions were on everyone's minds, until an announcement was made.

"We regret to inform the spectators that the referee has confessed to taking a bribe from Hazeltucky to swing the game into their favour. After verifying his story, we have no choice but to award Royal Woods the win by default, disqualify Hazeltucky from the season and ban all their teams from future competitions. We apologise for any inconvenience caused" a voice on the PA system announced. This got Lynn very mad. All that work, just to be handed the win by default. She hated winning that way. Also, she was playing against cheaters the whole time. She had half a mind to go over to them and give them what for. Thankfully, the family found her and whisked her away to prevent further incidents.

At the No Stop Gas Station, Vanessa was seeing to Lincoln's friends. She didn't mind this, although Vanessa could do without Rusty's pathetic attempts at flirtation. From their conversation, she learned a lot about Royal Woods and its residents, including the one they were stealing business from, Flip. Judging by what they said about his prices compared to theirs, she didn't feel bad about this, remarking to the kids that he probably had it coming.

"Tell your friends" Monogram called out to them as they left with their purchases. He was busy selling gas to a bunch of parents from Hazeltucky who were here to see some soccer game the middle school kids were playing. They didn't look particularly happy, though, so Monogram decided not to engage them in small talk. Once they paid for their fuel, they left without saying a word.

"What was up with them?" Vanessa inquired.

"Beats me, I didn't ask. Best not to poke the hornet's nest when paying customers are involved" Monogram responded. They were just about to close up shop when Albert approached them, fear evident in his eyes. Looking around to see if anyone was listening and finding no-one, Albert told them what he had sensed.

"It's the wand. It has been used" Albert stated.

Author's note: I based Lucy's new Dread Mistress persona on a mix of inspirations. Firstly, there's Kreia from KOTOR 2, a manipulative old lady who uses a person's past against them, or to get them to do what she desires them to do. The name comes from The Dread Masters, a group of six Sith Lords who had mastered the art of fear so well, that they could get entire fleets to surrender or flee rather than face them. Plus, scaring people is Lucy's entire shtick, so to speak, so having her do this seemed natural, even with goading from Bill. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. The Loud House is owned by Nickelodeon. Enjoy!


	3. Digging deeper

**Digging deeper**

When the No Stop station closed for the day, Albert, Monogram and Vanessa went out back to discuss what Albert had sensed. Even before, all could tell that something was wrong. The entire Royal Woods soccer team came in for snacks at what was supposed to be half time, but they later found out that the game had finished early because the other team tried to bribe the referee. No-one on that team was happy about that. One girl, Margo, had told Vanessa that their star player Lynn nearly got into a brawl with the other team over it. But that wasn't the strangest part. Rumours started circulating about someone called 'the Dread Mistress' who uncovered the crime by terrifying the referee into confessing. All of their combined experience told them this was no coincidence.

"If the wand is indeed in the hands of this 'Dread Mistress' we need to know who they are and what they plan to do with it" Albert summarised.

"Agreed. They may not even know how much danger they're in. But where do we start?" Monogram asked.

"How about with that ex-referee? Maybe he can tell us about the Dread Mistress" Vanessa suggested. Albert and Monogram gave this some thought.

"While I don't think the word of a corrupt sports official is enough to base our search on, admittedly, we have no other options" Albert concluded.

"What about the field itself? Surely there's camera footage" Monogram piped up.

"They're not just going to hand that over to some random strangers chasing a rumour" Vanessa dismissed.

"They might to official investigators" Albert posed.

"What do you mean and why am I scared?" Monogram inquired. Albert then produced a box of IDs, all fake but they looked convincing enough. He pulled out a cop's badge.

"If I go to the arena under the guise of someone investigating the corruption case, I can get a glimpse of our Dread Mistress" Albert outlined.

"While Vanessa and I can talk to the ref. No offense, but if he has been traumatised by magic, exposing him to even more will break him" Monogram added.

"None taken and I agree with that assessment. If we all know our missions, we'll move out" Albert replied.

Elsewhere, at Great Lake City, Lincoln was out with Ronnie Anne and Sid at the arcade. Sid was eager to see if Lincoln could still keep up with Ronnie Anne like he claimed. It was a pretty even match up, so close that even Sid couldn't resist challenging them both. Despite the fact that it was her first time trying this sort of game, she found that she could also keep up with them both. After they tired themselves out, they went to grab a bite. They had sat down when Lincoln's phone went off.

"That's probably Clyde. I asked him to tell me how Lynn's game went" Lincoln explained and answered the call. Clyde appeared on video chat. "Hey, buddy. So, how did it go?" Lincoln queried.

"Brace yourself, it's quite a story" Clyde began, and he told Lincoln everything, from the corrupt referee to the 'Dread Mistress' rumours. Lincoln did not know what to think.

"They what?!" Lincoln asked.

"I know, right. I always thought Hazeltucky were low, but not this low" Clyde remarked.

"If I know Lynn, she'll probably go through half a dozen punching bags to vent her anger. She hates winning by default" Lincoln guessed.

"I'm more interested in these 'Dread Mistress' rumours going around town. Has Royal Woods got some dark avenger or something?" Ronnie Anne inquired.

"That's the thing, no-one knows. Supposedly, she approached the now ex-ref and scared him into confessing. Really dark stuff" Clyde clarified.

"Not good" Ronnie Anne said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Sid asked.

"Well, I overheard Abuela making another of her card readings. There was something about fear spreading and 'the devil in the shadows', whatever that means. Could this Dread Mistress be connected?" Ronnie Anne wondered.

"Aren't card readings done for laughs? You know, a carnival trick designed to part people with their cash" Sid reasoned.

"Not the way Abuela does it. We should probably tell her about this, see what else she comes up with" Ronnie Anne suggested.

"Good idea. Clyde, I need you to tell me if anything else strange happens in Royal Woods. More specifically, if there's any more sightings of the Dread Mistress. I'll tell Lori about this next time I see her" Lincoln instructed.

"You got it, buddy" Clyde acknowledged and terminated the call.

At the now empty soccer field, Albert was already speaking to whoever was left. He gave them a real name, but fake title. He was under the guise of Detective Albert Stevens of the Anti-Corruption Squad, investigating an allegation of match-fixing. He had asked to see camera footage of the match in question.

"As you can see from here, the referee made some very questionable calls which would normally result in a penalty for the Royal Woods team, and the bank statements collected from the individuals involved confirms such bribery took place" the camera technician explained.

"I'm more interested in what happened immediately before the referee ran onto the field and confessed. Do you have camera footage of him during his 'encounter'?" Albert inquired.

"You mean with the Dread Mistress? I heard those rumours too. Thought they were just that, until I saw this" the technician answered. He showed Albert the footage of the referee and a little girl, no older than eight. There was no audio, but the footage showed the referee being scared by something the cameras did not pick up, but Albert knew that he was hallucinating, being shown terrifying images only he could see. The girl had the wand in hand and was clearly using it.

"Do you know who this girl is?" Albert asked.

"Not a clue, but she's creepy, whoever she is" the technician answered.

"Have you told anyone else about this?" Albert probed.

"Not a soul. Who'd believe me?" the technician responded.

"Smart move. Do you mind if I took this?" Albert inquired.

"Help yourself. I never want to see that footage again" the technician accommodated. Albert thanked the tech and left the field with what he came for but had more questions than answers. Who was this girl, and what did she intend to do with the wand? Hopefully he'd come up with more answers once he had the opportunity to study the footage in more detail.

Monogram and Vanessa's search for the ex-referee took them to a mental hospital where, apparently, he had checked himself in for treatment, hoping to find a cure for his recurring nightmares. They had presented themselves as a psychology student and her professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, eager to study the new phenomena surrounding the after-effects of an attack by the 'Dread Mistress'.

"I'll let you see the patient, but I must stress that you do not mention 'her' to him. Merely hearing those words makes him retreat inwards and you won't get anything out of him for at least a couple hours" the clerk explained.

"We'll be careful, miss" Monogram assured. The clerk opened the door to the patient's room, and they found him shaken, but otherwise coherent.

"More shrinks? I told you, I'll talk about it in group. Please, just leave me alone" the patient rebuffed.

"We're not therapists, sir. We're just researchers, and we're hoping you could shed some light on a few things" Monogram introduced.

"Light? Yes, light good, shines away darkness, her darkness. She's in here, still, showing me awful things" the patient responded, pointing at his head as he did so. It was clear that the encounter did a number on his mind, breaking him to near insanity. Nonetheless, Monogram and Vanessa were here for information.

"What kind of things did she show you?" Vanessa asked, sympathetically.

"He says he's been seeing images of his family mocking and disowning him in his dreams, and he's also told councillors he's been hearing laughter" the clerk answered.

"That must have been difficult. Do you see those images every time you close your eyes?" Vanessa inquired. The patient only nodded in response.

"You want to know about her, don't you? The dark magic girl" the patient guessed.

"Was she the one laughing?" Monogram probed.

"No, that is something else. Something very sinister" the patient replied.

"Put that to one side for now. The girl, what did she look like?" Vanessa queried. The patient shook even more at the mention of his assailant, but seemed determined to tell the story.

"She was very young, eight, maybe nine years old. Dressed all in black and dark hair covered her eyes. She had something on her that gave me these images. I never got her name, though" the patient described.

"That's all we need. Thank you for your time. Feel better soon" Vanessa concluded and both she and Monogram left the mental hospital. They both felt it wise not to press him any further. Vanessa knew first-hand what the wand did to vulnerable minds. After all, it turned her father into even more of an insane dictator than he already was, but now she saw what it could do to even the sanest of minds. Feeling more resolute about their mission, Vanessa and Monogram went back to No Stop.

Back at Great Lakes City, Lincoln, Ronnie Anne and Sid were at the Casagrandes. Once they found Rosa, Lincoln told her everything Clyde told him, and Ronnie Anne shared her suspicions that the rumours about the Dread Mistress and her card reading that morning were connected. While she believed them, Rosa was still disturbed by what she heard.

"And you say this 'attack' happened before the referee confessed out of fear?" Rosa inquired.

"Yeah, according to Clyde, he looked like he had seen a ghost, or many ghosts" Lincoln answered.

"Abuela, you don't think the Dread Mistress could be real, do you?" Ronnie Anne asked.

"Do not worry about this now, mija. I will fortify this house against such evil right this minute. Lincoln, Sid, you should take these, to ward off bad dreams" Rosa instructed. She handed Lincoln and Sid some talismans she had to spare and sent them on their way, Sid to her place and Lincoln back to the retreat. As soon as they left, Rosa began lighting incense and candles of all kinds. She also contemplated telling the others, but thought better of it. It was too soon to raise an alarm just yet, but if there was another incident, she would tell everyone straight away. She found sleep hard to get that night, but after lighting yet another candle, she drifted off.

At the retreat, Lincoln was telling Lori the same story. Unlike Rosa, Lori was not convinced that the Dread Mistress was real, but she was just as disgusted as Lincoln was about Hazeltucky's brazen attempt to buy the match.

"That is literally the lowest of the low. No-one tries to steal a match away from my sister" Lori stated.

"Apparently this 'Dread Mistress' thought the same" Lincoln replied.

"She is just a rumour, nothing more. Don't pay attention to gossip and hearsay. You are not Lola" Lori cautioned.

"Still, if there is someone in Royal Woods instilling fear into people in the name of justice, I'd like to know who it is" Lincoln reasoned.

"Why, so Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack could crack the case? It's probably just someone messing around. It's getting too late to talk about this now. Get some rest and try not to let 'her' give you nightmares" Lori teased and went to bed. Lincoln got into bed as well, but like Rosa, he also found sleep hard to get.

That night at the Loud House, Lincoln's prediction came true, Lynn had indeed been punching out several bags. No-one in the entire house could recall a time where she was this wound up. Sure, her team won, but not in the way she hoped and planned. In a way, it felt like trading one robbery for another, swapping a satisfying, well-earned victory for the default one they had to give under those circumstances. Lucy, being Lynn's room-mate, decided to talk to her about it, only after all the other Louds called dibs not.

"You OK, Lynn?" Lucy asked. Lynn was punching out her fourth bag when Lucy came in.

"If I ever get my hands on those Hazeltucky jerks, they're going to rue the day they tried to steal a match from me" Lynn responded and continued punching the bag.

"I know it must bite winning this way, but you'll more than make up for it next game, when you play against fair opponents" Lucy tried to calm Lynn down. A few minutes later, Lynn relented her assault on the punching bag, either because her anger had subsided or because she was tired. It didn't matter to Lucy.

"It's just, why would anyone sink that low just to win? Sure, I can get a little aggressive when I play, but I still played fair. It doesn't make sense" Lynn said sadly.

"I know, Lynn. I know" Lucy replied. With that, the two sisters went to sleep. Lucy found herself dreaming of the castle again, where she found herself with a welcome visitor.

"You certainly know how to leave a lasting impression. One incident and the whole town's talking about you" Bill observed.

"Yeah, maybe there is something to the whole 'superhero' thing Lincoln likes so much" Lucy stated.

"From everything you told me about him, he spends far too much time reading comic books. Doesn't always go the way it does in those. Additionally, does he have to read them in his undies?" Bill asked.

"Tell me about it" Lucy answered.

"Oh well, I just came by to tell you that your sister Luna was right before. Hazeltucky did have a connected sponsor, and when you uncovered their little secret, he lost big time. I've met my share of rich capitalists, they will not let this go" Bill explained.

"You think they'll come after Lynn?" Lucy queried.

"I'm certain of it, which is why we're going to accelerate your training. It's time for the Dread Mistress to learn some new tricks" Bill warned and Lucy was already eager to learn more from Bill. As she dreamed on, he taught her more and more advanced magical spells and tricks. Lucy was having the time of her life, learning how to be a real sorceress.

The next day, Albert, Monogram and Vanessa met in the No Stop basement before opening their store to discuss their findings on their respective missions. They came to a consensus, that they knew what the Dread Mistress looked like, they just did not have a name.

"This is going to be even more difficult than last time. If the wand is in the hands of an eight-year-old girl, getting her to part with it willingly will not be easy, especially if she's seen what it can enable her to do, and resorting to force is off the table. I'd rather not see the girl come to any harm" Albert summarised.

"I'm positive Bill will not share your restraint when it comes to dealing with her" Vanessa observed.

"Even more reason to exercise caution and care. We need to be better than he is" Monogram resolved.

"Our next step should be to find out who this girl is. Maybe we can try asking around" Vanessa suggested.

"If we go around with a picture of a young girl asking random strangers for her name, we will attract attention" Monogram rebutted.

"What else can we do?" Albert asked. The trio thought about their next course of action, until Monogram came up with a plan.

"School websites. They have pictures of their best students winning awards and stuff on their web pages. We can look around there and see if we can get a match on our mystery girl" Monogram added.

"Good, this way we can avoid arousing suspicion. Vanessa, you take the elementary school site, I'll search the middle school site, while Monogram searches the high school site" Albert instructed, and the team resolved to search their respective sites as soon as they had free time from dealing with customers.

The rest of the school day passed by with nothing unusual happening. Rumours about the Dread Mistress were still making the rounds, with each student having their own little theory. One popular theory was that she was a spirit trapped in the mortal realm, unable to move on until all acts of deception and betrayal were answered for. Luan tried her hardest to put these rumours out of her mind as she had a more pressing need to focus on, her first official date with Benny. They had settled on something small, a picnic at the park. At that same park, Lynn took her team to practice on the field for the next game of the season. Luan and Benny were having fun watching them and eating the snacks they brought.

"Given what happened yesterday, it's nice to get away from all that doom and gloom and enjoy the sunshine. Whoever the Dread Mistress is, she can fly away for all I care right now" Luan said with her signature smile.

"I know right. I got so tired of my theatre troop talking about her I skipped the club meeting today. Don't you have anything else to talk about, people" Benny responded.

"I'm sure if we ignore the rumour long enough, it'll go away on its own" Luan reasoned. It was at that moment Benny noticed some unsavoury characters headed towards the soccer field.

"Will that apply to them?" Benny asked rhetorically. Luan noticed them as well and recognized them as Hazeltucky players who were at yesterday's game, only they weren't here to play by the looks of them. There were three of them, one flanked by the other two, which had a baseball bat and knuckle dusters on them. There can be no mistake, they were here for a brawl, and not a fair one at that. Fearing that trouble was brewing, Luan dialled 911. The Royal Woods team were practicing still, paying no mind to their would-be assailants coming towards them. Lynn was overseeing the team's performance.

"Good hustle, team. Margo, you're definitely improving that jump header. Take five, people, we'll start again right after we get hydrated" Lynn called out and gave the team a bottle of water each. Margo had turned around and noticed the Hazeltucky players coming at them.

"Lynn, we have company" Margo warned. Lynn turned to see them, her mood soured. She had hoped for a calm, peaceful afternoon. No chance of that happening. The middle player approached Lynn menacingly.

"Think you're clever, Loud? Getting our paid ref to bail and sell us out like that. Did you think we'd let you get away with that stunt?!" the girl demanded.

"Am I supposed to know who you are?" Lynn inquired.

"I suppose introductions are necessary before the savagings begin. I am Denise van Milgard" Denise answered.

"Uh oh" Margo commented.

"I see someone knows what's up. You, commoner, tell her who I am!" Denise ordered.

"If I remember right, van Milgard is the name of the land developer Trevor van Milgard. I'm guessing you're his daughter" Margo said, rather timidly.

"Correct. When you got my team banned from all competitions, Daddy lost a lot of investments and money. Because of that, I couldn't get the pony I wanted! Now, someone's going to pay" Denise threatened.

"Oh, what a tragedy. Would you settle for a dog instead? They're much friendlier, especially to their own kind!" Lynn taunted. Denise grabbed Lynn's jersey, which prompted a sharp jab to the ribs, which made her back off. When Margo and several other team-mates rushed to Lynn-s defence, they got whacked with the bat and punched with the knuckle dusters, leaving them injured on the floor.

"Now, there's only you" Denise menaced. She had her goons lift Lynn up off the ground and menace her with their weapons.

"Put her down!" a voice from behind them commanded. All three turned around to see a young girl with dark hair covering her eyes. Lynn recognised her as Lucy.

"Am I hearing things, or did I hear some upstart twerp tell me what to do?!" Denise probed.

"Leave her alone!" Lynn demanded.

"Why? She your sister? If she is, I'm going to enjoy breaking her too!" Denise goaded.

"I said, put her down!" Lucy reiterated rather forcefully. Not knowing what to do, the two thugs complied, and Lynn landed with a thud on the field.

"Who do you think you are, shrimp?!" Denise interrogated.

"You've surely heard the rumours, so you should know full well who I am" Lucy shot back. Denise had put two and two together.

"The Dread Mistress, so you are real. Well, I'm just going to enjoy this even more!" Denise replied.

"I wouldn't count on that" Lucy countered and produced the wand. Denise and her cronies just laughed.

"That's your defence? A stick? You're not scary, you're funny!" Denise mocked. The two thugs advanced on her, but Lucy stood firm and waved her wand. Next thing anyone knew, the baseball bat had turned into a boa constrictor, and it was wrapping around its former wielder rather tightly. The laughs quickly turned to screams. Lucy waved it again and the knuckle duster turned into a giant spider, encasing its former wielder in a cocoon. Now Denise realised why they called her the Dread Mistress. She backed away until she hit a wall. Lucy was in her face now.

"Time for you to experience true fear!" Lucy said with a tone that struck terror in Denise's eyes. She waved her wand one final time and the bricks that made up the wall Denise's back was to had surrounded her, swallowing her up, only partially. When sirens could be heard, the magic had gone away, the bat and brass knuckles returned to normal and the police arrived to find three assailants. Once the suspects were hauled off and statements from Lynn and anyone still conscious were taken, Lucy had teleported away. Luan and Benny were distant witnesses to what just occurred.

"Couple pact, we don't tell anyone about this. Agreed?" Luan proposed.

"Agreed" Benny acknowledged. The pair were clearly shaken by what they had just seen and feared telling anyone, lest they be seen as insane.

In Hazeltucky, in the office of Van Milgard Industries, Trevor van Milgard had just received a disturbing phone call. His daughter and two of her friends had just been arrested in Royal Woods for assault. It was nothing his armies of lawyers couldn't clear up. Besides, from what he had heard, she was just trying to get even with the Royal Woods team for getting her own team banned. That incident really cost him dearly, and there would be repercussions, both for that and the indignities his daughter was suffering at the hands of Royal Woods' finest.

"I want to know everything there is about this 'Lynn Loud', who she is, who her family is, anything we can use to get rid of them!" Trevor ordered. He was pacing his office furiously.

"I'll get someone on that. We'll find something" his scared assistant responded.

"Also, dig up anything you can about this 'Dread Mistress'" Trevor added.

"Why don't I tell you what's up" came a voice from behind him. It was a dark-haired girl, sitting in his chair.

"How did you get in here?!" Trevor asked.

"That's for me to know and you to cry yourself to sleep every night because you'll never find out. Besides, I'm here to settle a score" Lucy answered bluntly.

"Is this about my daughter? That girl Lynn had everything coming to her! No-one crosses my family and lives!" Trevor retorted.

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing" Lucy countered. She produced her wand, and when security moved in to apprehend her, one wave sent them flying against the wall. Trevor was dumbfounded. Not only was the Dread Mistress, real, she was in his office terrorising him. Lucy got up from the chair and moved towards a painting. Another wave of the wand saw it swing open like a secret door to reveal a safe. Another wave saw the safe open.

"Get away from there! Those are sensitive documents!" Trevor demanded, referring to the paperwork stored inside the safe.

"Yes, they are. Rather scandalous papers too. Look, this one shows that you built one of your apartment complexes where a lake filled with rare and exotic fish used to be. This other one is a bill for asbestos. Isn't that illegal?" Lucy read through the papers one by one.

"I didn't get here by letting silly things like rules keep me down. Who do you think you are, the EPA?" Trevor taunted.

"No, but I am" the assistant responded, apparently regaining his nerve. He produced a badge with 'EPA' on it. "Agent Samuel Decker, you're under arrest for multiple violations of environmental law and safety regulations" Decker announced.

"OK, what is going on here?" Trevor inquired.

"We've had suspicions about your operations and had been undercover for a while. I've been searching for this evidence for months, and you come in and find it in five minutes. Who are you, missy?" Decker asked Lucy. The security guards that Lucy had sent flying earlier got up and took Trevor away. Evidently, they too were undercover agents.

"I'm sorry, but a magician never reveals her secrets" Lucy answered.

"Well, no-one will believe this if I told anyone, so if I leave you out of my report, we can have those documents and it's like we never met" Decker bargained. Lucy agreed, handed over the evidence and, waiting until Decker and his back-up were out of the building, teleported away.

At the No Stop station, Albert, Monogram and Vanessa finally had a moment's freedom to go over their findings. Vanessa had struck gold with her search. The girl in the footage Albert recovered from the arena was identified as Lucy Loud. She was featured in a piece on the elementary school website, congratulating her on the poetry reading she did at the Royal Woods theatre a few months back. The name Loud also turned up in the other searches as well. The soccer team's star player, Lynn Loud, is a local athlete who plays pretty much every sport you can imagine, Luan is a well-known comedian and infamous prankster, Luna a frequent lead rock star at some noteworthy gigs, the list went on, The trio had a complete dossier on the Louds by the time they were done.

"I wanted to stay covert and talking to Royal Woods' most famous family isn't exactly a textbook case of subtlety" Albert summarised.

"You can't deny, the more we investigate, the more likely it is we'll have to engage with them at some point" Vanessa observed.

"I agree. If Lucy has the wand, then it is not just her, but the entire family that is in peril" Monogram added. Just then, a laptop suddenly started beeping.

"Hang on, I set this up to alert us if there is anymore activity regarding strange occurrences, specifically, anything with the words 'Dread Mistress' in it" Albert explained. An article showed up on the screen. Albert read it in great detail. "Seems the Royal Woods soccer team was attacked by Hazeltucky in retaliation. The suspects mentioned in interview that the Dread Mistress attacked them in the middle of this incident. Naturally, the police think they're making this up to get a lighter sentence" Albert read.

"Did it say where the attack took place?" Vanessa inquired.

"Yes, the Royal Woods park. They also took a statement from the sister of the star player, Lynn Loud, one Luan Loud, who made the 911 call" Albert responded.

"Well, that settles it. We have to talk to them now" Monogram concluded.

"If Luan did witness the event, including the bit with the Dread Mistress, she may have left that bit out when giving her statement. We should talk to her in more detail, see if she'll open up to us if we tell her the truth" Albert suggested.

"We should get her here. Then we can talk in secrecy" Vanessa added.

"Then it's a plan" Albert finalised, and they got ready to shut for the day.

At the Casagrandes, Rosa was still making sense of her prediction. One would hope that the Dread Mistress steered well clear of her home and family. She also secretly hoped that the rumours were just that, rumours. When she went to get the mail, she opened a letter addressed to her and all those hopes were dashed instantly. She read with a sense of foreboding.

Dear Rosa

We have been monitoring the Dread Mistress rumours in Royal Woods for some time, and now, it is with heavy heart that we must confirm her existence. We know not who calls themselves by this evil title, but we do know that she wields dark powers not of this world. There have been two more instances of Dread Mistress sightings since the first event, and the others believe we must come together. A council of the Sisterhood of the Shining Light has been called. Please confirm your attendance at the usual meeting place.

Regards

Sister Margaret

With the letter was a yes or no tick box. Rosa ticked yes and used the return envelope to mail her reply. She went back to her apartment and had put away her cards when one dropped from the deck. When Rosa saw what it was, she was visibly alarmed

"The Devil card. So, he will reveal himself soon. I hope we'll be ready when he does" Rosa commented.

Author's note: I don't think I'll be able to write chapters this long again, there was just so much I wanted to put in here I just couldn't help myself. It is a rare occurrence which has only happened once in my writing career, in the very beginning. Also, I can't be the only one who thinks Rosa Casagrande is a witch. At the very least an alchemist or someone of occult persuasion. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. The Loud House belongs to Nickelodeon. Enjoy.


	4. The circle closes

**The circle closes**

It was safe to say that everyone in the Loud House was concerned, after Lynn's ordeal at the hands of Denise van Milgard and her cronies. Lynn, however, was only mildly phased. She was tough and knew how to handle herself. Of course, half the soccer team were still being treated for their wounds at the emergency room and their next game had to be delayed. What Lynn didn't tell the family was that she thought things would've been a lot worse had it not been for the timely arrival of the Dread Mistress, and Lynn had her suspicions about who it was. Luan, however, knew the Dread Mistress was Lucy, she and Benny saw it for themselves.

"I can't believe Hazeltucky would stoop so low as to attack another team over being banned for their bad behaviour" Rita commented.

"The van Milgards? I knew their sponsor was connected, but I didn't think someone like that was involved. Why didn't you tell us the heir to a multi-million dollar land developer was playing in that game?" Luna asked.

"I didn't know. I doubt it would've changed anything" Lynn answered. Lana, however, was disgusted at the mere mention of the name van Milgard.

"Don't get me started on that fat mobster slime. Her old man is as sleazy as they come. Wouldn't put it past him if he sent those girls there to teach you a lesson" Lana retorted.

"And your evidence for this accusation, dear sister?" Lisa inquired.

"Just a guess. Maybe I'm just really cheesed off that he destroyed a pond full of fish to build his apartment blocks. They were friends of the Fishmans. May they rest in peace" Lana replied. Just then, Lynn Sr. put on the TV.

"Check it out, a news report on van Milgard" Lynn Sr. observed. Everyone watched.

"This just in, Trevor van Milgard has been arrested by the EPA for health and safety violations and breaches of environmental law. We are also getting reports that his daughter was also picked up, as well as two other Hazeltucky players, for assault on Royal Woods' soccer team after their default victory left them banned for life. In interview, the suspects claim they themselves were attacked by the rumoured 'Dread Mistress' that supposedly exposed the original crime. We will bring you more as this story unfolds. Katherine Mulligan, Royal Woods News."

"Pfft, Dread Mistress. Next they'll probably claim it was the Tooth Fairy" Lisa scoffed.

"That's their legal defence, a rumour? They'll be eaten alive in juvie, at least" Lola reasoned.

"Is prison food really that bad?" Leni asked innocently.

"Whatever, it's not our problem anymore. Let's just go to sleep. Practice really wore me out" Lynn dismissed. Everyone agreed and prepared to turn in. Once Lynn and Lucy got to their room, Lynn closed the door in a hurry and rounded on Lucy.

"Alright, out with it. I may have been on the floor at the time, but I know what I saw, and that was you performing magic tricks that scared them witless. Care to explain?" Lynn interrogated.

"Are you sure you didn't get hit in the head?" Lucy tried to dodge this line of questioning.

"Pretty positive, now spill" Lynn pressed.

"Jeez, you're welcome for the rescue. You never were one for looking a gift horse in the mouth" Lucy rebuffed.

"One last time, is the Dread Mistress real?" Lynn probed, rather aggressively.

"I guess you can't keep secrets forever in this house anyway" Lucy relented and showed Lynn the wand she found.

"And that thing actually works?" Lynn inquired.

"What, you think the Dread Mistress just jump scares her foes into submission? Yes, it works, and I'm learning more and more every night in my dreams" Lucy responded.

"I'm not going to ask where you found that, nor do I care. This Dread Mistress stuff has to stop" Lynn warned.

"Oh? Who exactly is going to stop me?" Lucy retorted.

"I know I can't, seeing what you can do, but if you've attracted the attention of the media, then you've probably got someone else's attention as well, which can only mean trouble" Lynn cautioned.

"If it comes, I'll deal with it. For now, this stays between us, got it?" Lucy said.

"Fine, but some day you may come to regret finding that thing. When that day comes, don't say I didn't warn you" Lynn relented, and the two sisters went to bed.

In Great Lakes City, at the retreat grounds, Lincoln and Lori were also preparing to turn in. Lori had just finished a full eighteen holes of golf with the team as a team-building exercise and to get to know them better, with Lincoln as her caddy. Lori had made plans to take a real tour of the city tomorrow, with Bobby acting as tour guide. Likewise, Ronnie Anne had offered to give Lincoln skate-boarding lessons, partially because she wanted to see how many times he would wipe out. They had just gotten ready to go to sleep when Clyde called via video chat.

"Lincoln, Lori, I have news, and it's not good" Clyde said with a concerned tone.

"I don't like the sound of this" Lori responded. Clyde then proceeded to tell the pair about what happened at the park with the Hazeltucky players. Both Lincoln and Lori were shocked and concerned for their sister.

"Is Lynn alright?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah, but two other players are still in hospital, but they should be discharged by tomorrow" Clyde answered.

"Well, at least those punks will literally get what they deserve" Lori commented.

"There's something else, she's shown up again" Clyde added.

"Don't tell me, the Dread Mistress" Lincoln guessed. Clyde nodded in affirmation.

"Lynn's assailants claim the Mistress attacked them, using the same tricks she used on the referee, but most reporters and media outlets aren't convinced she exists" Clyde explained.

"Can't say I am, either. Sounds like a desperate defence to me" Lori said dismissively.

"Once is just a rumour, twice is a lead. I don't think we've seen the last of the Dread Mistress" Clyde hypothesized.

"You guys read way too many comic books. Just wait and see, before you know it, this Dread Mistress junk will die down in literally a few weeks" Lori shot down.

"Maybe, but I'm going to keep an eye out regardless. Talk soon, buddy" Clyde resolved and terminated the call. If Lincoln was honest with himself, he also had a hard time believing the Dread Mistress was real, but at the same time, he wished he could go back to Royal Woods, team up with Clyde and solve the case like they usually did. Although, given that both the alleged Dread Mistress attacks happened in close proximity to Lynn, he was not sure he'd like the conclusion such an investigation came to. He went to bed that night, wishing with all his heart that the Dread Mistress wasn't one of his sisters, specifically Lucy. Lincoln knew that such tactics as Clyde described would be right up her alley. Again, he found sleep hard to find that night, as something in his gut told him something was about to go horribly wrong.

In the city itself, Rosa was making her way to the meeting spot. She had gotten out of her building by telling her family she was going to her bridge club. In reality, she was answering the call of the Sisterhood of the Shining Light, who were concerned about the rise of this 'Dread Mistress' and what it could mean. Down a mysterious alley, she found a metal door and knocked on it. An opening near the top of the door opened and Rosa could make out the eyes of an attending sister.

"Mother Rosa, you came" the sister addressed. She opened the door and Rosa let herself in.

"How could I not? The omens I have been detecting were too dark to ignore" Rosa replied.

"The rest of the council is waiting for you. Please follow me" the sister guided. Rosa followed her into a council chamber. It was round, with five seats, four of which housed the remaining councillors. Rosa took a seat and the meeting began.

"I call this emergency meeting of the Sisterhood of the Shining Light to order. Attending are Sister Margaret" Margaret introduced, and one by one, the attending councillors took role.

"Sister Charlotte"

"Sister Agatha"

"Sister Julie"

"Mother Rosa" Rosa finished. The rank of Mother was granted to the head councillor, but any of the five sisters could call a council should the need arise.

"On to business. I have called this council to discuss one very urgent matter. The Dread Mistress" Margaret began.

"Are we absolutely certain she exists? What if we go poking around Royal Woods chasing a rumour?" Agatha queried.

"I believe she's plenty real. I saw what she did to the referee caught fixing the match" Charlotte responded.

"Not to mention those girls that attacked the soccer team. Who else but a dark sorceress could put that kind of fear into an heiress?" Julie posed.

"It cannot be disputed that something is afoul in Royal Woods. My card readings have never steered me wrong before, and they sense some darkness beyond our understanding is working there, hidden from our sight" Rosa added.

"Whatever this evil is, it must be rooted out and defeated. If darkness is allowed to take root, it can spread until it encompasses all things" Agatha implied.

"Rosa, isn't your family from Royal Woods? Specifically, the Santiagos?" Charlotte asked.

"They moved a few months ago. But now you mention it, there is one thing I feel I must bring to the council's attention. Two siblings, Lincoln and Lori Loud, came from Royal Woods to stay in the city for two weeks whilst on a retreat. Bobby and Ronnie Anne are, shall we say, close to them" Rosa outlined.

"How long have they been here?" Margaret inquired.

"A few days, right before this Dread Mistress thing started" Rosa answered.

"I do not believe this to be mere coincidence. Something else is at play here. Are they the only Louds here?" Agatha probed.

"Yes, but their immediate family is back at Royal Woods. Why, what are you implying?" Rosa responded.

"Both incidents occurred at events relating to the Loud family. What are Lincoln and Lori's roles in the family unit?" Charlotte questioned.

"From what Ronnie Anne and Bobby tell me, Lori is the eldest and looks out for all of them in general, while Lincoln keeps an eye on the younger members of the family and the 'man with a plan'" Rosa explained.

"In short, they keep order and plan for any eventuality" Julie summarised.

"I concur with Sister Agatha's assessment. Their being here as well as the Dread Mistress are connected. If the Louds are involved, then we know where to direct our investigation" Margaret suggested.

"There is more. The cards tell me that there is another force at play here, but specifics are lacking" Rosa outlined.

"Friends or foes?" Charlotte asked.

"Unknown, and that is disturbing" Rosa replied.

"Do the cards say anything now?" Julie wondered. Rosa took out her fortune-telling cards and dealt them on the table in front of the council. The first card was laid bare.

"The Moon, again. This unknown element is more active now. Whether this is for good or ill remains to be seen" Rosa interpreted. She dealt her second card. "The Devil, at last, he steps out of the shadows and, like the Moon, is ready to become a major player in events to come" Rosa added. The third and final card was put on the table. Rosa and the other sisters were horrified at this outcome, but also uneasy. "The Death card, but it is upside down. This does not necessarily mean someone is going to die, but they may come very close" Rosa concluded.

"We cannot ignore this now. We must focus our activities in Royal Woods on finding this darkness and vanquishing it" Margaret said.

"I agree" Agatha chimed. The council voted unanimously to investigate the Dread Mistress before any harm befell the citizens of Royal Woods. After all, the founder of the Sisterhood was from that place.

"Council adjourned" Rosa finished the meeting, and everyone went on their way. Rosa then turned to the sister that let her in. "Inform our sisters in Royal Woods that they are to investigate the Dread Mistress. Find out who she is, what her intentions are and the source of her dark power. They are also to alert us if anything else happens" Rosa instructed.

"Yes, Mother Rosa" the sister acknowledged. As Rosa went back home, she made a mental note to herself to ask Lincoln and Lori if they knew anything about the Dread Mistress.

The next day, at Royal Woods, in the No Stop station basement, Albert, Monogram and Vanessa were brainstorming ideas about how to approach Luan. They needed her help to get the wand away from her sister Lucy before it could do any more harm, but doing so without drawing attention was proving to be difficult.

"Going up to her and saying 'Hi, we're from another dimension, here to steal a magic wand away from your spooky sister and we need your help' is likely to freak her out even more" Monogram guessed.

"It wouldn't surprise me if the whole family was on edge right now, especially after that attack on Lynn" Vanessa added.

"We can't afford to wait. The longer we take to seize that wand, the more time Bill has to corrupt Lucy into doing who-knows-what" Albert resolved.

"Do we know which school she goes to? Middle or High school?" Vanessa queried.

"Royal Woods High, why?" Albert asked.

"I was thinking we could slip a note in her locker, suggesting she meet here. We could talk in the basement in total secrecy" Vanessa suggested.

"Are you certain she'll go for that?" Albert asked.

"If she wants answers, yes" Vanessa assured. She went to Royal Woods High under the guise of a student, made her way inside and saw Luan. She recognised her from the school website photos and took note of the locker she was using. After the bell rang and she left, she slipped the note inside and hurried towards the exit before any hall monitors showed up.

"Hey, who are you?" the janitor had spotted Vanessa out in the halls.

"Errrrrr…..got lost on the way to Art class" Vanessa lied unconvincingly.

"I know every student here and I don't recognise you at all. So, I ask again, who are you?" the janitor pressed. Vanessa had to improvise to get out of this.

"Look, someone puked in the hall again" Vanessa pointed and distracted the janitor long enough to haul jets out of the building. Lucky for her someone actually did puke in the halls.

"Not again, Billy. How many times do I have to tell you, avoid the cafeteria's ranch dressing" the janitor said. He got out his trusty mop and bucket and when he turned back to confront Vanessa some more, he found that she had disappeared. "Dang it" he remarked.

The rest of the school day went by with no unusual happenings, or anyone talking about visits from the Dread Mistress, something Luan was very thankful for. She opened up her locker when she found a note inside. She opened it up and it read:

If you want answers about what you saw the other day, come to No Stop and order a medium hot dog with extra ketchup and a large soda. Come alone, tell no-one and make sure you're not followed.

Luan read this note over and over. She did want to forget what she saw, but at the same time, she wanted things to go back to normal. After all, it couldn't hurt to see where this was going. She called her mother to tell her she would be at a friend's house and did not require a pick up. Once school was done, she made her way to No Stop, heeding the note's advice and making sure no-one followed her. Once she got there, she half-expected Lincoln's friends to be hanging out here like they did at Flip's, but no-one was around. She went in and found the attendants, a man with hair whiter than Lincoln's and presumably a work experience teenage girl.

"Hi, I'd like a medium hot dog, extra ketchup and a large soda, please" Luan ordered, as per the note in her locker. Just then, bells suddenly started ringing, party poppers went off and confetti fell from the ceiling.

"Congratulations, you are our 100th customer. Your prize is in back, if you'll follow us" Monogram instructed. Luan was caught off-guard by this. She was under the impression that she would get answers to the Dread Mistress, not win some obscure competition. Nevertheless, she followed Monogram and Vanessa to the basement, where Vanessa dispensed with the cover.

"Never mind the fireworks, they were just to maintain cover. Behind this door is the guy with the answers you seek. May I give you some advice before heading in?" Vanessa clarified. Luan nodded in response. "Be honest and take the matter seriously. He seldom jokes about such matters" Vanessa advised

"I'm not really in a punny mood anyway" Luan acknowledged. The door opened and Vanessa urged Luan inside. She came across another man, but this one looked different, not like a convenience store attendant at all.

"Ah, Luan, we meet at last. Please have a seat" Albert said calmly and gestured at the empty chair Luan took a seat in. Albert took one of his own and the questions soon began.

"I take it this place is more than just a convenience store" Luan guessed.

"Perceptive, I like that. Yes, this is more than just a convenience store. It is our cover while we undertake our real mission, but first, some introductions are in order. I am Captain Albert Stevens of the Excalibur Institute. You've met my colleagues, Major Monogram of the O.W.C.A. and Vanessa Doofenshmirtz" Albert started things off.

"I've never heard of Excalibur or O.W.C.A." Luan stated.

"I'd be surprised if you did. As you've no doubt gathered, we aren't from around here" Albert responded.

"Then where are you from, and what are you doing here?" Luan asked.

"That is a long story, but your presence here indicates you're willing to listen, so I will be blunt. Are you familiar with the concept of parallel dimensions?" Albert probed.

"Lisa talks about them a lot at the dinner table, but it's just a theory" Luan answered.

"She's the smart one, right? The 4-year-old with a PhD? She could give Phineas a run for his money. What if I were to tell you that we are from other dimensions?" Albert inquired.

"Yesterday, I'd think you were insane, but now" Luan replied.

"Now, you think just about anything is possible. Your mind is still struggling to come up with an explanation for what you saw at the park, yes?" Albert guessed.

"Is that what this is all about? If so, I'd like to get to the point" Luan pressed.

"She doesn't beat around the bush" Vanessa observed.

"Long story short, we are here because an extra-dimensional artefact was spotted in this world and we came to retrieve it" Monogram briefed.

"Or rather we followed it here, and we know one of your sisters has found it first and, in subsequent investigations, we also know she's used it" Albert added.

"You mean that wand she used on Hazeltucky and the ref? Lucy always did have a fascination with magic and junk of that nature" Luan explained.

"I'm sure she does. Luan, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that wand is dangerous. It corrupts people, right down to their core. If Lucy doesn't get rid of it, she may lose herself. The longer she wields it, the more powerful its owner grows" Albert outlined.

"You mean Lucy will get stronger?" Luan probed.

"Lucy may use the wand, but that doesn't mean she owns it. The wand's true owner has other plans, I'm sure" Albert replied.

"The wand's true owner?" Luan queried.

"A dream demon by the name of Bill, real piece of work. I'm sure he's just using Lucy to some evil end we can't be sure of" Monogram responded.

"You're telling me that magic exists. I'm going to have to ask for proof of that" Luan said with a tone of disbelief. Albert then used his own power to levitate Mr. Coconuts, Luan's ventriloquist doll, into the air. He then made it speak without input from Luan.

"If I do recall, he told you to come alone, so why did you bring me?" Albert made Mr. Coconuts ask Luan.

"Oh, come on, who's Mr. Coconuts going to tell" Luan countered. Albert then put Mr. Coconuts back where he got him from. Safe to say, Luan was a believer now.

"Now, understand this, it's very important, not all magic users are good. The one we're dealing with is as evil as you can get. I'd show you footage, but it is disturbing" Albert cautioned.

"Show me anyway. I'd like to know what we're dealing with" Luan requested.

"I'm glad it's 'we' now. Alright, but only because you asked me to" Albert complied. He used his hi-tech watch to pull up footage captured from Bill's first incursion into the real world.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say this is a really low-budget horror movie" Luan commented.

"Yes, Bill was always one for theatrics. This is from what was known back then as Wierdmageddon. Bill invaded and terrorised a small town in Oregon, intending to use it as a staging area for eventual global conquest and for his own sick, twisted pleasure. The townspeople were barely able to defeat him, and not without cost" Albert told the story of Gravity Falls. He pulled up some more footage, this time of Bill's second invasion. "In this, he was able to take his ambitions globally, and was overwhelmingly successful. We called this event The Cipher War, as you can see" Albert added. Luan saw footage of conflict between military forces and what looked like ghoulish creations spawned from one of the books in Lucy's personal library. "Again, we were barely able to repel him. Children, not much older than yourself, were able to defeat him and reverse the damage he did, but it nearly cost someone their life" Albert concluded.

"And you think that will happen here if we don't get that wand from Lucy?" Luan asked.

"I'm certain of it. Bill is nothing if not persistent" Albert answered.

"So, what do you want from me?" Luan inquired.

"We're trying to stay covert. If Bill gets any hint that we're here, he'll accelerate his plans, whatever they may be, or the wand itself will flee to another dimension to avoid capture. What we need now is eyes and ears in the Loud House. That's where you come in" Albert explained.

"You want me to spy on my own family?" Luan probed.

"Not all of them, but we do need regular updates on Lucy, see if she's acting strangely. It wouldn't hurt to find out if any of your other sisters know what she's been doing. If so, and you think you can trust them, send them our way using the same instructions we gave you. You think you can do that?" Albert urged. Luan had to think about this. She didn't like the thought of spying on her sisters, but if it got the wand as far away from Royal Woods as physically possible, she would do whatever it took.

"OK, fine, I'll do it. But only for my family's sake. Not for whatever your end goal is" Luan agreed.

"Fair enough. I expected as such. There is one more thing, however" Albert acknowledged.

"What's that?" Luan asked.

"That'll be $6.50 for the hot dog and soda" Albert replied.

"We're back in cover, I see" Luan remarked.

At Great Lakes City, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne got back from their skateboarding lessons. It was a sure thing that Lincoln would not be trying that again anytime soon. Ronnie Anne had noticed that he lacked the co-ordination for skateboarding and suggested he stick to video games instead.

"You do realize the best way to skateboard is to stay on the board itself" Ronnie Anne teased.

"I think I was just coming to that conclusion after the 10th wipe-out" Lincoln rebuffed.

"Maybe we should try something else. Sid's always wanted to go to a laser tag arena. Want to join us?" Ronnie Anne invited.

"I've got to warn you, I'm a pro at laser tag. Luna still regrets taking me along on my first game" Lincoln bragged.

"Oh, it is on" Ronnie Anne challenged. She left to call Sid up and tell her that Lincoln would indeed be accompanying them. At the same time, Rosa approached Lincoln and offered her usual snack bar just for him.

"So, Lincoln, anything new happening in Royal Woods?" Rosa questioned. Lincoln didn't want to presume, but he couldn't help but think that Rosa was asking about something, or someone, more specific. Then again, he didn't mind telling Rosa. After all, he was getting nothing but scepticism from Lori.

"Are you asking about the Dread Mistress, by any chance?" Lincoln probed. Rosa knew, at that point, there was no hiding the truth.

"Si, I've been hearing things and they concern me. Is there anything you can tell me?" Rosa asked. Lincoln and Rosa then moved into the kitchen and closed the shutters. After looking to see if anyone else was in ear-shot and finding no-one, Lincoln responded.

"I think she may be one of my sisters. I don't have any solid proof, but everything inside me tells me she's connected to my family in some way, probably because both sightings occurred while my sisters were close by" Lincoln confided.

"I see. Any strong contenders come to mind?" Rosa probed.

"Well, magic and scaring people are Lucy's whole deal. If she was running around as the Dread Mistress, it honestly wouldn't surprise me" Lincoln answered.

"As you say, you have no solid proof, so let's keep this between us for now. Thank you for sharing" Rosa concluded.

"Thanks, Mrs. Casagrande" Lincoln said and returned to Ronnie Anne, feeling like a weight had been lifted. Rosa, on the other hand, was on the phone in contact with the Sisterhood.

"We have a place to start, girls. My suspicions were correct, the Louds are involved in some way. Start looking with them" Rosa instructed.

"Yes, Mother Rosa" the sister on the other end acknowledged and hung up.

Author's note: Well, it seems I'm getting better at this than I thought. Once I have an outline for the chapter, everything else just started clicking. Either that or I really want to finish this story before I go on vacation next month, one of the two. Coming up with chapter titles is undoubtedly the hardest part. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. Nickelodeon owns The Loud House. Enjoy.


	5. Sisters at war

**Sisters at war**

Ever since her visit to the No Stop gas station, Luan had been keeping an eye on Lucy's activities. Covertly, of course, to draw as little attention to herself as possible. She had to admit, at first, the thought of dream demons, magic wands, and alternate dimensions seemed like something out of Lincoln's lame movies at first. But having seen magic first-hand and heard the rumours about the Dread Mistress for longer than she'd like, Luan decided that the wand Lucy possessed had to go. But she came to the conclusion that she needed help, whether it came from her sisters, No Stop, or Benny, she had to recruit allies. She had also been observing her siblings' behaviour as well and noticed that Lynn was acting distant and somewhat cold towards Lucy. Luan guessed that something was up between those two and decided to investigate.

"Lynn, could you come up to my room, please? I need to co-ordinate the babysitting schedule." Luan requested. Lynn found this a bit odd since the schedule had already been tweaked to account for Lori's absence.

"What, like, right now? I only sit for one family, what's there to do?" Lynn asked.

"Please? It's important." Luan begged.

"OK, fine." Lynn agreed and went upstairs with Luan. They got into her room and saw that Luna wasn't there. She was with the Katzes, something Luan was thankful for, as it meant she and Lynn could talk without fear of someone barging in. Lynn decided to get straight to the point.

"What's the deal, Luan? We went over the schedule three times before Lori left and checked it all with our clients." Lynn probed. Luan had to applaud Lynn for seeing through her deception that quickly.

"OK, I admit it, the schedule doesn't need tweaking again. I just really need your help with something, but you can't tell anyone" Luan confessed. Lynn had had enough of secret-keeping. First Lucy wanted to keep hidden that she was the Dread Mistress, now this.

"I'm not getting involved in this. Please don't tell me about any skeletons in your closet." Lynn dismissed. Luan thought of a better way to approach this sensitive topic.

"What if I was to hint at the thing I wanted your help with, so that way, you'd figure it out on your own and then we can talk about it." Luan posed.

"That way it wouldn't be a secret. Alright, I'm down with that." Lynn agreed. Luan thought about the best hints to give.

"Say, Lynn, could you fetch me Lucy's poetry journal? I'm struggling to come up with some vampire-themed puns for a show I'm doing soon." Luan fake requested. Lynn was intrigued.

"Seriously, you can't just pick up a book about vampires or something?" Lynn countered. The two girls paced around the room for a bit after this.

"Do you know something?" they both asked each other at the same time.

"I might know something, do you?" Lynn responded.

"Care to share?" Luan probed.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Lynn replied.

"That so? Maybe you're better off not sharing." Luan said.

"OK, then," Lynn finished the back-and-forth. Luan was starting to get nervous. This whole charade was becoming tiresome, so she decided to end it here and now.

"How about I go into Lucy's room and get the poetry journal myself? Maybe I'll see if she's got anything else while I'm in there." Luan offered. It was at that moment Lynn figured it out. She covered Luan's mouth with her hand and forced her onto the lower half of the bunk bed.

"How do you know about the wand?" Lynn inquired in a hushed tone. She took her hand off Luan's mouth.

"The manager at No Stop station told me all about it. Who created it, what he's done, everything, and it's not good. How long have you known?" Luan explained.

"I confronted Lucy after the attack and she showed it to me. I don't much care where and how she got it. All I know is I want that thing out of here as fast as humanly possible" Lynn answered.

"You're not the only one. If you want to know more, go to No Stop, order a medium-sized hot dog with extra ketchup and a large soda. They'll tell you more." Luan guided.

"I don't care about its history, but if we took it there, can they get it out of here?" Lynn asked.

"I believe so," Luan replied.

"OK, if you have a plan to steal the wand, I'm in." Lynn urged.

"Not here, though. She usually takes one of her nightly walks right about now. We can surprise her then." Luan briefed.

"What if she uses her creepy fear powers on us?" Lynn probed.

"I realize that this sounds like a pretty weak plan, but it's all we've got" Luan summarised. The two girls then went outside to try and find Lucy, wherever she may be. They tried the cemetery first since Lucy regularly goes there, but she wasn't there. Luan did think about calling Lisa and asking her to track Lucy's location since Lisa had a habit of sticking tracking devices on all the Loud family, but she didn't want to hear Lisa's scepticism about the Dread Mistress. They eventually did find her at an old, abandoned mansion on top of a hill.

"Ancient and creepy, just the way she likes them," Lynn commented.

"Never mind that, look," Luan hushed Lynn. They saw at least four robed women go into the mansion after Lucy.

"Who are they?" Lynn probed.

"I don't know, better call it in," Luan resolved. Albert had given Luan contact details should she ever need them and she decided now would be a good time to call him up with an update.

Back at the No Stop station, Albert, Monogram, and Vanessa were closing up for the night. All of a sudden, Albert got a call. It was from Luan.

"This can't be good. If there's been another attack," Albert lamented.

"We would've heard something by now," Vanessa assured. Albert answered the call anyway.

"Did you, by any chance, send some people to spy on Lucy other than myself?" Luan queried.

"No, why?" Albert responded.

"Well, Lynn and I just saw four people in robes follow Lucy into this abandoned mansion." Luan clarified.

"Lynn's in on this as well now? You know what, I'm not going to ask. I can trace your call. I could meet you at this mansion if you like." Albert offered.

"I have a feeling things are going to get ugly. I could use some back-up." Luan accepted Albert's offer of help.

"Stay on the line, I'll be right there," Albert instructed. Luan kept the call going, and she and Lynn went inside after the robed women. Keeping at least a few paces back, they followed the women into the foyer of the mansion. Lucy was there too, practicing her spells. She was sending magic blasts out of the wand at busts and flower-pots she had set up for target practice. When she was done, she waved the wand and the shattered objects repaired themselves. Luan and Lynn saw Lucy talking, seemingly, to herself. In reality, Lucy was being coached by Bill.

"Your wand work is getting up there with the pros, kid. I think we should take a break from spells for a while and I can show you how to make the best potions you can." Bill praised.

"What kind of potions?" Lucy asked.

"The kind regular alchemists can only dream of concocting. First, we'll need ingredients and a cauldron. Try summoning a cauldron right now." Bill instructed. Lucy waved her wand, and out of it popped a large, black pot. Another wave saw water being poured into it and fire lighting up underneath the pot.

"Not good," Luan commented.

"Nothing ever is with Bill," Albert added. At that moment, the robed women decided to confront Lucy, their own wands pointed at her.

"So, it is true. There is a dark sorceress lurking around Royal Woods," one of the women observed.

"We have company," Bill stated.

"Who are you, people?" Lucy asked.

"We are the Sisterhood of the Shining Light, and we are here to bring the Dread Mistress to justice," another sister responded.

"So, will you be coming peacefully, or will we have to force you?" another sister demanded.

"If they engage Bill, they will not survive. Find a way to distract them, I'm almost there," Albert urged. Lynn and Luan stepped forward, making their presence known.

"Hold it right there, ladies. No-one lays a finger on our sister," Lynn intervened.

"When did you two get here?" Lucy inquired.

"That doesn't matter. This 'Dread Mistress' act stops here and now. That wand is turning you into a monster, Lucy, just like its owner!" Luan asserted.

"I am its owner, and this wand has given me a gateway to mastering true sorcery. No more will I be confined to just seances and card readings. No, I will become something else," Lucy refused to hand over the wand.

"That is what I am afraid of," came a voice from outside. A window suddenly opened and Albert flew into the mansion in his Butterfly form and transformed back once he landed on his feet, to the bewilderment of everyone present.

"Did you know he could do that?" Lynn queried.

"No. No, I did not," Luan replied. Albert glanced around at everyone in the foyer.

"Lynn, nice to finally meet you. Congratulations on your recent win, and you must be the Sisterhood of the Shining Light," Albert introduced.

"His cheeks, look at them," one of the robed sisters observed. They had indeed noticed Albert's half-moon cheek marks.

"The Moon, just like Mother Rosa predicted," another robed sister added. Two of the robed sisters pointed their wands at Albert instead of Lucy.

"Tell us, are you friend, or foe?" one of the robed sisters that had their wand pointed at Albert interrogated.

"I do not mean anyone any harm. I just came for the wand in Lucy's possession. Once I get that dark object away from here, you will never see me again," Albert assured. The robed sisters were not convinced.

"Mother Rosa warned us of an unknown element. Tell us your intentions," another robed sister probed.

"Mother Rosa? You don't mean Rosa Casagrande, do you?" Luan asked the robed sisters.

"How do you know Mother Rosa?" a robed sister countered.

"She's our brother's girlfriend's grandmother. She came down to celebrate Thanksgiving with us," Lynn responded.

"All that is irrelevant now. We came for the Dread Mistress and we're not leaving without her," another robed sister stated.

"You would really fight an eight-year-old girl four against one? Some noble sisterhood," Albert commented.

"It is regrettable, but we do what we must to preserve the light," a robed sister stated. They advanced on Lucy, but Albert shot a lightning bolt at the space between them, forcing the robed sisters to back off.

"None of this is necessary. Besides, Lucy's not at fault here, Bill is," Albert clarified.

"Who the devil is Bill?" a robed sister asked.

"The wand's creator and true owner. A real piece of work, too, from what I hear," Luan replied. Lucy could not believe what she was hearing. Bill had been nothing but a good friend and mentor to Lucy ever since she found the wand and took up the mantle of the Dread Mistress. To hear her sister speak ill of him caused her some degree of anger.

"You say this wand and Bill is turning me into a monster, but you're one to talk, Miss Ultimate Prankster. How is what I do any different from what you do to us on a regular basis?!" Lucy asked with a hint of venom.

"I don't torture people psychologically. You put people in mental hospitals from what I've seen and heard," Luan countered.

"Really? Some in our house may disagree with that statement, especially on April Fool's Day. Last time, we had to hire stunt doubles to avoid your, quite frankly, potentially lethal pranks!" Lucy argued. Luan hesitated for a moment. On some level, she could see where Lucy was coming from. In hindsight, she could see that her practical jokes could've gone horribly wrong at some point or another, but now was no time to let guilt consume her.

"Maybe so, but if you think Bill is such a saint, try asking him about Weirdmageddon, or the Cipher War, see what he says then," Luan suggested. Now Lucy was curious, but before anyone could react, the wand started acting of its own accord. Lucy felt a creeping sensation go up to her arm that was holding the wand. Before she could ask herself why this was happening, she felt a presence push her out of her own body. She was floating in the foyer, watching as Bill, the one she called friend and teacher, took control of her body against her will.

"I have a better idea, ask me yourself," invited Bill-Lucy. Everyone present expressed some degree of fear, but Albert was used to fighting Bill like this.

"Don't panic. Render her unconscious and Lucy can regain control," Albert advised.

"Well, well, well. You did follow me here. I always suspected you would. Why do you think I chose this body? Not so willing to fight now, are you?" Bill-Lucy taunted.

"You coward! Using an eight-year-old girl as a human shield! Come out and fight like a man, or dream demon, or whatever you are!" Lynn goaded.

"Admittedly, I hoped I would have more time. Now it seems I'll have to accelerate my timetable," Bill-Lucy lamented.

"Give me back my sister!" Lynn demanded. She lunged at Bill-Lucy, only for her to levitate her off the ground and throw her against the wall, knocking her out. When Luan went to check on Lynn, Bill-Lucy approached her.

"You really call yourself the Ultimate Prankster? Challenge accepted!" Bill-Lucy chided. She waved her wand, and Luan, too, had passed out. Albert seized the opportunity to rush towards Bill-Lucy, only for her to notice and send an energy blast his way. Albert put up a shield spell to protect himself, but the force of the blast sent him backward. Still, he pushed on, shield spell up, inching closer and closer.

"Over and over, you try, and you fail to contain me. Now, here you are, alone. No magic queens or commissions to back you up." Bill-Lucy said menacingly. Just then, a spell hit Bill-Lucy from behind.

"He's not alone." One of the robed sisters countered. Bill-Lucy turned to face the quartet of robed women, who all fired stunning spells at Bill-Lucy, who shielded herself with ease, deflecting the spells left and right, causing them to hit the walls. This proved enough distraction for Albert to get close to Bill-Lucy and, using his hi-tech watch, inject Bill-Lucy with a sedative designed to render her out cold for a few hours, ideal for fighting Bill's puppets. She was in the middle of waving her wand to repel Albert when she was injected. This caused her to let go of the wand mid-wave and send it flying across the room. Albert made to go and get it when rumbling sounds signalled a new problem. The chaotic nature of the battle had damaged the mansion they were in, and it sounded like the building was close to collapse. Albert, having studied the Loud House closely, opened a portal to the living room with his hand. Together, he and the robed sisters carried the unconscious Lucy, Luan, and Lynn through the portal before the structure gave way. Before Albert went through, he noticed the wand and the cauldron Lucy had summoned disappear.

At the Loud House itself, Luna was on the couch of the living room, after having come back from babysitting for the Katzes, working on a new song, as she often did. She and Sam had a karaoke date tomorrow and Luna wanted to come prepared. The pair resolved to stick to activities they both enjoyed before trying to tread new ground in their relationship. It was going to be a lot of work, but Luna was determined to stick with it, as was Sam.

"Still can't come up with any decent lyrics. I wish Lucy was here." Luna lamented. She had been trying for an hour to come up with the perfect words to her song. She wanted to write something that would inspire Sam to tell her family about Luna. The Sharps still didn't know that Sam and Luna were dating. On some level, she could see where Sam was coming from. Luna herself had fears about telling her family about Sam, and it was only when Lori and Leni decided to try their hand at matchmaking, finding which boy Luna was crushing on named Sam did they find that Sam was actually a girl. When Lori and Leni told Luna what they had found, Luna did ultimately confess that she had a crush on this girl.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Lori asked in amazement.

"Yeah, we don't care that she's a girl. All that matters is that you really like her." Leni added. After that reassurance, Luna felt the confidence to tell the rest of her family, and they were very supportive. Luna wanted to give that same level of confidence to Sam that her sisters gave Luna. Before she could try again to think of some words, a portal opened up in the living room. Had Luna not seen it with her own two eyes, she wouldn't have believed it. Out of the portal came a man, four robed women, and three of her sisters, passed out, being carried by the strangers. Luna was struggling for words in general now. Albert looked around and saw Luna on the couch with an expression of disbelief on her face.

"Ah, right. Greetings. Let's see, guitar, rock star clothes, you must be Luna, right?" Albert guessed.

"Mind telling me what's going on, brah?" Luna asked.

"Right, well, my name's Albert, these are the Sisterhood of the Shining Light and we came to return them," Albert explained, gesturing towards the unconscious sisters.

"You want to tell me how they got that way?!" Luna interrogated.

"Well, this one," Albert pointed at Lynn. "Suspected head injury, you may want to get Lisa. This one," Albert pointed at Lucy. "I had to sedate to keep her from killing us. This one," Albert pointed at Luan. "I'm not really sure what Bill did to her, to be honest," Albert added.

"POP STARRRRRRRRRRR!" Luna yelled the house down.

"Dang it," Albert remarked. Just then, Lynn Sr. emerged from the dining room and saw what Luna was yelling about.

"What the- how did you get into my house?! And what happened to them?!" Lynn Sr. demanded to know. At that moment, all the Louds, minus Lori and Lincoln, were in the living room, curious as to what the commotion was about.

"It's a long story, so please bear with me," Albert replied. He then proceeded to tell the story of how he, along with his associates at No Stop, were investigating the Dread Mistress, which led them to Lucy, him recruiting Luan to keep an eye on her and finished the story with what happened at the mansion with the Sisterhood. All the while, Lucy, Luan, and Lynn were taken to their respective beds and examined by Lisa thoroughly.

"Dark sorceresses, magic wands, dream demons, secret magic societies, I can't even right now," Lynn Sr. remarked and sat down, exhausted.

"I'm just relieved you were able to get them here safely. We'll take things from here," Rita replied.

"Before I go, please don't be too hard on Lucy. Bill's been tricking people a lot cleverer than her for centuries. He can be very persuasive. With the wand out of her hands, the Dread Mistress is gone, too," Albert urged.

"Gone where? If Lucy was the Dread Mistress, doesn't that mean she isn't really gone but just sleeping?" Leni inquired.

"No, Leni, he's being figurative," Luna clarified.

"I think Lucy's been through enough," Rita resolved.

"About this wand, do you think you'll find it again?" Lola probed.

"It's still here, in this dimension, so we start the search again, but now that Bill knows I'm looking for it, he may put his plan into action, whatever it may be, so be vigilant," Albert warned.

"We will, and thank you again for getting my daughters back in one piece, albeit a little rattled," Rita said gratefully. Albert and the robed sisters used the front door to leave the Loud House and went back to No Stop to brief Monogram and Vanessa. In the morning, though. Right now, it was time to rest. Back in the Loud House, Lisa came downstairs, having finished examining her patients.

"Lynn has a mild concussion but is otherwise unharmed and the sedative given to Lucy is showing signs of wearing off," Lisa evaluated.

"What about Luan?" Luna queried. Lisa was less optimistic about Luan's condition.

"That's another matter. You may want to come upstairs," Lisa beckoned. Everyone went up to Luna and Luan's room and saw Luan was still unconscious. "I have tried every conceivable method of waking her, but I have been unsuccessful. I must regretfully conclude that she has fallen into a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness from which someone cannot be awakened, street name, a coma," Lisa explained.

"How long is she going to be out?" Luna asked, tearfully.

"I can't tell. She may wake up in the next few hours, or the next few days. Worst case scenario, she never wakes up at all," Lisa answered bluntly. Everyone was distressed by this news. They all went to bed but getting any sleep was proving difficult. The parents were especially worried about how Lori and Lincoln would take hearing this. Would they cancel their retreat and come straight home? Given what just happened and the realisation that Royal Woods may not be safe anymore, they preferred that they stay where they were. That was tomorrow's battle, though.

At Great Lakes City, Rosa was awaiting news from the Sisterhood. It had been some time since she gave her orders for the sisters in Royal Woods to investigate Lucy, after having been tipped off by Lincoln. She was pacing the council chambers more and more, nervous about what may have happened. Just then a sister approached Rosa.

"Mother Rosa, I bring word from our sisters in Royal Woods," the sister informed.

"Do not keep me in suspense, sister. What news do they bring?" Rosa asked. The sister then told Rosa everything the Royal Woods sisters told her, from the real nature of the Dread Mistress to Bill, Albert and finally what happened to the Loud sisters that went to investigate themselves. Rosa was shocked at this outcome. Now the card predictions mostly made sense. Albert, with his half-moon cheek marks, represented the Moon. Bill, the puppeteer pulling Lucy's strings, represented the Devil. What still didn't make sense was the Death card. What did that mean?

"Mother Rosa, do you wish to call another council?" the sister probed.

"There is no time. If this 'Bill' character is on the move, intending harm towards Royal Woods, then action must be taken immediately. Inform all sisters, there is a darkness spreading in Royal Woods and we must contain it at once. Deploy all sisters to Royal Woods and tell them to expect hostile contact," Rosa ordered.

Yes, Mother Rosa. If I may, what about Lincoln and Lori? Should they be told?" the sister queried. Rosa thought about this for a second and decided on the honest approach.

"Yes, but I will be the one to tell them the truth. All of it," Rosa resolved.

Back at the Loud House, Lucy was having another one of those dreams with Bill in it again. She had a lot of questions for him now, but she now knew Bill was not as friendly as she initially thought.

"What. Did you do. To Luan?!" Lucy demanded.

"She was getting too nosy and had to be dealt with. Doesn't matter now. Everything's changed," Bill replied.

"What do you mean?" Lucy queried. Bill just laughed.

"Getting you to sow fear and terror was only phase one. All those nightmares you made people experience only gave me more power. Now I have what I need to start phase two, I don't need you anymore," Bill revealed.

"You monster. I'll stop you," Lucy shot back.

"With what? Your wand? Newsflash, it never really belonged to you, I just let you use it for a while to get what I need. You lost it back at the mansion anyway. But since you've been so useful to me, how about I reward you for your efforts," Bill taunted. His singular eye started glowing and a flash of light woke Lucy up with a start, the sedative had worn off. She turned to look at Lynn, who was still out cold.

"I'm so sorry, Lynn. I wish I never found that stupid wand," Lucy apologised with tears in her eyes.

Author's note: Following feedback from a reviewer, I have decided that this and all future chapters and stories will be written with the help of Grammarly. I could only get the free version, so any advanced issues may still go unresolved. The only thing I am not correcting is non-American spelling because I am British and I use words like 'colour', 'behaviour' and 'realisation' the way my native land spells them. As for the story itself, as the meme goes, we're in the endgame now. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. Nickelodeon owns The Loud House. Enjoy.


	6. Fever dreams

**Fever dreams**

Friday morning dawned on the Loud House, and everyone was eager to put yesterday's events behind them. Lucy especially, for she was certain the sedative Albert injected into her to force Bill out of her body was giving her a headache. She didn't complain, however, as her room-mate Lynn woke up with bandages around her head, still recovering from the battle.

"Still hurts, huh?" Lucy asked, concerned for Lynn's welfare.

"My head is pounding, but I've been knocked around worse than this. What about you?" Lynn replied.

"Still a little groggy from being sedated, but at least I'm in control of my own body," Lucy responded.

"That's good to hear. Maybe Dad's famous breakfast bagels will help us feel better," Lynn said optimistically and went downstairs to eat. Everyone was already at the table. Well, everyone except Luan. She still had not woken up from her coma.

"Still no comedy at the table, I see," Lynn observed.

"Not unless you like dad jokes," Lana remarked with a depressed tone. There was a lot of sadness about the house in regards to Luan's condition. Lynn Sr. was on the phone to the high school principal, telling them what had happened. He had agreed to Albert's cover story, that there was a domestic accident where two of the sisters hit their heads, one worse than the other. He had called Principal Huggins beforehand and asked him if Lisa could stay home to watch over Luan as she slept. Getting him to agree was not difficult, because he knew Lisa was a certified genius and that kindergarten was a complete waste of her talents. Besides, she was needed in the House more than she was needed at the school. Still, one issue remained, what to tell Lori and Lincoln.

"They are not going to believe us if we told them the truth," Rita stated.

"But they're our kids, we can't lie to them," Lynn Sr. countered.

"If we told them the truth, that there is some sort of demon lurking about town, Lori, in particular, will want to rush back and protect her younger siblings. You heard what Albert said, it's not safe here," Rita argued.

"Don't you think they deserve to know? After all, their sister is lying comatose upstairs as we speak," Lynn Sr. pointed out.

"We'll discuss this when the kids are at school. For now, we have to be strong, for their sake," Rita resolved. Lynn Sr. agreed and everyone except Lisa and Luan was in Vanzilla, getting ready for school, work or, in Lily's case, day-care. No-one spoke for the entire journey, an air of depression hanging over them. All of the sisters were worrying about Luan and whether or not she'll wake up. Lucy, in particular, was still blaming herself for what happened, despite the fact that the Loud family assured her over and over again, that it wasn't her fault. As much as they may be able to forgive her, Lucy couldn't muster the strength needed to forgive herself, making her headache even worse.

At Great Lakes City, Lori and Lincoln were waking up in the morning and going about their day as usual. Lincoln was just about to log onto the school website to start his daily virtual schoolwork when Ronnie Anne called him out of the blue. Lincoln then suddenly remembered that he, Ronnie Anne and Sid were scheduled to go to a laser tag arena today, but that wasn't until the afternoon when Lincoln would be finished, so why would she be calling now? Curious, Lincoln picked up.

"Hey, Ronnie Anne, what's up?" Lincoln inquired.

"It's Grandma, she really wants to talk to you and Lori. It sounded urgent so I think you should get here pronto," Ronnie Anne informed.

"Nothing that couldn't wait until later?" Lincoln asked.

"She said something about 'events in the cards'. As I said, you should get here ASAP," Ronnie Anne reiterated.

"OK, we'll be right there," Lincoln said and hung up. He told Lori about the call and she and Lincoln went straight over to the Casagrandes, all the while wondering about what she could want them for so urgently. When they arrived, Rosa was already waiting for them outside the building. She ushered them to her apartment and sat them down, offering them a buffet line's worth of breakfast while she was at it.

"Before I tell you why I summoned you here, I must ask that you keep an open mind about what I am about to tell you," Rosa started the conversation.

"Please don't tell me that Dread Mistress junk has spread here, has it?" Lori probed with a hint of scepticism.

"You will become a believer after I finish my story," Rosa assured and she told Lori and Lincoln about what happened at Royal Woods between the sisters and Bill, the encounter with Albert and, unfortunately, the consequences of that engagement. After she was finished, Lori and Lincoln were in a state of shock.

"Luan's in a coma?!" Lincoln asked in a state of terror.

"Si. We were able to get the wand away from Lucy and Lynn escaped with only a mild concussion, but from what my sisters tell me, Luan still has not awakened, despite Lisa's best efforts," Rosa concluded. Lori did not know what to believe. Here she was, enjoying some well-deserved time away from the usual ruckus of the Loud House, wilfully ignoring the Dread Mistress rumours as some sort of joke, yet in the space of a few minutes, she had just learned that not only was the Dread Mistress real, she was her own sister, being manipulated by some 'thing' from another dimension that has done who-knows-what to one of her other sisters and has plans for something big she couldn't even begin to imagine.

"We have to go back. Our family needs us," Lori suggested.

"Out of the question. The sisters have been in contact with Albert since we engaged Bill and he tells us the wand is still out there and as long as it stays in Royal Woods, the town is no longer safe. It is better you remain here," Rosa shot down.

"What would a convenience store owner know about finding wands?" Lincoln queried.

"That is just a cover. Albert is from another dimension as well. He followed the wand here, hoping to retrieve it before anyone found it," Rosa explained.

"Well, look how that turned out!" Lori remarked. Bobby, who had been in on the conversation, as well as Ronnie Anne and Sid, tried to defuse the tension.

"Babe, please calm down. I'm sure the Louds will be fine," Bobby tried to assure Lori.

"Calm down? These two are fighting an interdimensional war and my family is literally getting caught in the crossfire," Lori cried out and Bobby moved to hold her.

"I know, babe. If it were my family caught in all this, I'd probably react the same way," Bobby sympathised, while Lori was crying on his shoulder. Lincoln was more curious about this 'Sisterhood' that Rosa was leading.

"About this 'Shining Light' society, what is it you actually do?" Lincoln asked.

"We safeguard our world against darkness such as Bill and vanquish it when it appears," Rosa answered.

"And are my sisters safe while your sisters are watching them?" Lincoln inquired.

"Si, as much as they can be," Rosa assured Lincoln. Lincoln thought long and hard about what was said. In the end, he decided going back wasn't necessary at this point.

"OK, I trust you. Still, it's hard not to worry," Lincoln conceded.

"I understand, Lincoln. If anything else happens, I will let you and Lori know immediately," Rosa agreed.

"Come on, Lincoln. Maybe a few rounds of laser tag will take your mind off this," Ronnie Anne suggested and she, Lincoln and Sid left to go to the arena. Lori, who had calmed down somewhat, decided to call home.

At Lynn's Table, Lynn Sr. was already hard at work on the morning rush. His employees noticed that he wasn't his usual, chipper self when he was cooking, although this was probably because of Luan's condition and the internal agony of how he was going to tell Lori and Lincoln. He suddenly got a call on his phone. It was Lori. Deciding to rip the band-aid off sooner rather than later, he answered.

"I've been meaning to call you, Lori. There's something you need to know," Lynn Sr. braced himself to be the bearer of bad news.

"If it's about Luan, Rosa already told me. How is everyone?" Lori probed.

"Given everything that's happened, we're pulling together. Lisa's working non-stop to find ways to wake up Luan and Lynn's on the mend too," Lynn Sr. informed.

"What about Lucy, is she alright?" Lori queried.

"I think her wounds are more internal than external. She still blames herself for what happened," Lynn Sr. said with a hint of sadness in his tone.

"Do you need me to come back?" Lori asked.

"No, we can handle things here, Lori. You'll be much safer in the city," Lynn Sr. responded. Lori knew that she could trust her father to keep the rest of the siblings safe from Bill, as much as he was able to anyway.

"You let me know if anything else happens, Dad?" Lori requested.

"Absolutely," Lynn Sr. agreed and hung up. Lincoln had his own distractions, it was time Lori got around to hers, attending college classes and touring more of the city with Bobby.

At the No Stop station, Albert had just finished briefing Monogram and Vanessa on what happened at the abandoned mansion. While they were a bit put off at the fact that they had to start the search for the wand all over again, all agreed that the main priority was saving as many lives as possible, so the decision to let the wand go in favour of getting Lucy, Luan and Lynn out of a collapsing building was the correct one.

"Do you have any idea what Bill did to Luan?" Vanessa probed.

"I have suspicions, but I don't think the Loud family would appreciate us interfering in their lives any more than we have already," Albert answered.

"At least with the Sisterhood helping us, we have no need to involve them," Monogram concluded.

"They are a resourceful, dedicated bunch. They remind me of Queen Moon, in a way," Albert complimented.

"Still, why do I get the feeling this isn't over?" Vanessa asked with a hint of worry.

"The Sisters are searching this town from top to bottom. For the most part, I'm content to let them keep at it. We'll be serving in an advisory capacity to them," Albert explained.

"I'm going to keep an ear out for any signs of trouble, just in case," Monogram replied.

"Check news feeds every hour. If something pops up, alert either myself or the Sisters," Albert instructed. Monogram and Vanessa acknowledged the orders and scanned newsfeeds, while also maintaining their cover.

At Royal Woods Elementary, Lucy's headache showed no signs of abating. Quite the opposite, it appeared to be getting worse. On top of that, it was also starting to get warm, even for a summer's day. Thankfully, recess was in a few minutes. Maybe some fresh air and some time in the shade will clear her head. Once the bell rang, Lucy weakly made her way outside and took a seat on a bench underneath some tree branches. Her head was still pounding, she still felt way too warm and she starting having coughing fits. Across the way, Clyde noticed Lucy sitting by herself and walked up to her, making a point to check on the younger Loud siblings while Lincoln was away.

"You OK, Lucy? I heard about Luan, so I thought you'd like some company," Clyde said, concerned for Lucy's well-being.

"Thanks, Clyde. You're a real-***coughCOUGHcough***" Lucy said with a weak tone.

"Are you sure you're OK? You don't need to go to the nurse?" Clyde inquired.

"I'll be f-….." was all Lucy could say before fainting. Clyde caught her before she hit the ground.

"Lucy! Come on, wake up!" Clyde urged, to no avail. Lana, who was playing in some sunbaked mud, heard the commotion and rushed over.

"What happened?" Lana probed.

"I don't know, she just passed out," Clyde responded. They hoisted Lucy onto their shoulders and carried her off the playground and into the nurse's office. Lucy woke up along the way, albeit very briefly.

"This is…his doing ***COUGH***" Lucy wheezed before passing out again.

"Any clue what she's talking about?" Clyde asked Lana.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Lana answered. Mrs. Johnson noticed Clyde and Lana carrying a very weak Lucy.

"You can tell me what happened on the way," Mrs. Johnson said urgently and escorted Clyde, Lana, and Lucy to the nurse. Clyde told Mrs. Johnson what he saw and what happened to Lucy. They arrived at the nurse's office, the nurse herself put Lucy onto the bed and ushered everyone else outside.

"She said 'this was his doing'. Who's 'he'?" Clyde inquired.

"I think I need to call Dad," Lana replied.

"Leave that to us. We'll see she gets home," Mrs. Johnson assured. The nurse, having finished examining Lucy, came outside to tell Clyde, Lana, and Mrs. Johnson her findings.

"She has a temperature of 103, has difficulty staying conscious and, once, struggled to breathe. She needs to go to a hospital," the nurse evaluated. Now Clyde and Lana were really worried. Luan was already comatose, now another sister is seriously ill. Lisa was going to have her hands full.

"Lisa is the Loud's family physician. She'll find the problem, I'm sure," Mrs. Johnson said, with a twinge of hope.

"I have already called her father and he is on his way to pick her up. He should be here in a few minutes," the nurse informed. As if on cue, Lynn Sr. raced towards the office, clearly having sped over when he got the call. He saw Lucy, picked her up and took her to Vanzilla.

"Thanks, Lana, we got this from here," Lynn Sr. acknowledged and left the school.

"You'll have to forgive my dad. It's a bit of a tense time at our house right now," Lana said apologetically.

"You know you can tell me anything," Mrs. Johnson offered to listen.

"Well, there was an incident yesterday. Luan was knocked out and still hasn't woken up," Lana shared.

"Is that why Lisa's not in today?" Mrs. Johnson queried.

"Yeah, she's trying everything and still no luck," Lana answered.

"I see. Well, I'm more than willing to speak to Principal Huggins, try and convince him to let you go home if you want to," Mrs. Johnson said.

"No, I'm fine, really," Lana declined the offer.

"Alright, but I want you to go see the school councillor if it gets too much, understand?" Mrs. Johnson instructed. Lana nodded in acknowledgement and everyone went back to class. Clyde made a mental note to update Lincoln at the end of the day, but he decided not to dwell on this too much. After all, worrying about the Louds was giving him a headache.

Back at the Loud House, Lisa was seeing to Luan. She had attached all sorts of devices to her, but the one that caught her attention the most was the one she connected to Luan's head. It was designed to scan the patient's brain for any neural activity. From what she could tell, Luan was in a heightened state of REM sleep. Not comatose in the traditional sense, but still unable to wake up. She was still dreaming, though, so at least her brain was working. On occasion, she would see Luan twitch and groan. From these observations, Lisa deduced that Luan was having one really bad nightmare from which she was unable to wake up.

"11:00 am. The subject is still trapped in a state of REM sleep. Traditional methods fail to yield results. Will commence intravenous feeding in one hour," Lisa noted in her log. Just then, she heard the door open and close rather quickly and someone rushing upstairs. She went out to the hallway to find her dad holding Lucy and setting her down on her bed. Curious, she went to investigate.

"Lisa. Thank goodness, I was just about to call for you. I'm afraid you have another patient to look after," Lynn Sr. briefed. Lisa went over to examine Lucy with various medical instruments. What they told Lisa troubled her greatly. Her body temperature was several degrees above normal and her vitals were all over the place. She couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"You may want to call the restaurant and tell them you won't be in. I'm going to need your help with my patients," Lisa suggested.

"Way ahead of you," Lynn Sr. responded. He did indeed call Kotaro and tell him he was in charge of Lynn's Table until further notice. This did constitute a family emergency and Kotaro was more than happy to do it.

"First, we'll need to get her temperature down, though given what I see here, that's going to be an uphill battle by itself," Lisa outlined. Lynn Sr. went to get an ice pack from the kitchen and placed it on Lucy's forehead.

"I'm not sure how much more this family can take," Lynn Sr. commented.

At Royal Woods Elementary School, Clyde and the rest of his friends were getting ready for gym class. It was dodgeball again, so they employed their famous snake formation. Clyde's headache still hadn't gone away and now he was getting dizzy, even though Girl Jordan didn't hit him yet. Stella, who was behind him, noticed Clyde struggling to stand.

"Clyde, you OK? Girl Jordan didn't blindside you yet," Stella asked. At that point, Clyde dropped to one knee.

"I think you'll- ***COUGHcoughcough***\- have to find someone else to- ***cough* **fill in for me," Clyde responded. The others turned around to see Clyde looking very sickly.

"Everything alright over there?" Coach Pacowski inquired. When he came over to see what was going on, Clyde had already passed out. Thankfully, Zach caught him before he hit the floor. Rusty felt Clyde's forehead and recoiled his hand away almost instantly.

"He's on fire. Get him to the nurse," Rusty said.

"I'm the teacher, I'll do it," Coach Pacowski volunteered. He carried Clyde out of the gym, dismissing the class as he did so. Upon insistence, he also agreed to let Stella, Liam, Rusty and Zach tag along. Once they all got to the nurse's office, the nurse took one look at Clyde and a look of despair was on her face.

"You'll have to put him with the others," the nurse stated.

"Others?" Rusty asked. The nurse took them to a nearby classroom, although it wasn't being used for teaching anymore. When the nurse opened the door, the group were greeted by the sight of many kids either passed out or coughing their insides out like Clyde was a moment ago.

"Woah, Nellie," Liam remarked.

"There are two other classrooms just like this one. If we don't send the other kids home, this is going to spread," the nurse said grimly.

"Get Principal Huggins down here. He needs to see this," Pacowski instructed the kids.

"No need, I'm already here," came a voice from behind them. It was Huggins. He looked from Clyde to the room full of sick kids. "It's really that bad?" Huggins probed.

"I've even had teachers come in with these symptoms. By my estimation, approximately half the school's been infected," the nurse informed.

"The safety of the children must come first. I'll make an announcement shortly," Huggins concluded and left for his office. Sure enough, he spoke on the PA system. "Attention, this is Principal Huggins with an urgent announcement. Due to the extremity of the current viral outbreak, I am closing this school early for the day. Everyone is to get home immediately. Your parents will be called. That is all," Huggins announced.

"Feel better soon, Clyde," Stella wished. Soon enough, Clyde's dads came to the school to take him home, both men sporting looks of panic and terror. Half an hour later, all the students were picked up and returned home and the teachers drove away as well, the sick ones have had friends or relatives escort them, being too weak to drive.

At Great Lakes City, Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, and Sid were at the laser tag arena for the afternoon. Ronnie Anne and Sid made it a point not to bring up Luan in any conversation they had with Lincoln. The objective was to keep Lincoln occupied so he wouldn't spend all day dwelling on what was happening at Royal Woods. For the first round, they were put in a team against three other people. Ronnie Anne had taught Sid the basics, as well as some advanced techniques, and they were able to beat the other team fairly easily. They were on the break between rounds when Lincoln decided to use the attached internet café the arena had.

"I thought now would be a good time to make some progress on my virtual classes. They're not going to finish themselves," Lincoln reasoned.

"I still can't believe that school now has online classes. I mean, why bother going in at all when you have this?" Ronnie Anne asked.

"Maybe this is the future. Maybe robots and AI will replace teachers, along with everything else," Sid teased playfully.

"Someone's been watching way too many movies," Ronnie Anne observed. When Lincoln went to log in to his school account, the following message appeared on-screen:

'We apologise for the inconvenience, but due to the nature of the viral outbreak, all school functions have been suspended until further notice'

"Viral outbreak?" Lincoln wondered. Just then, a news story on the TV in the arena caught Lincoln's attention.

'An elementary school in Royal Woods, Michigan, has had to close its doors early due to the outbreak of a highly contagious and unidentified virus that has infected over half the school. Symptoms include fever, cough, loss of consciousness and, in extreme cases, difficulty breathing. Hospitals are standing by to receive an influx of patients showing signs of the illness. We will bring you more as this story develops'

"Oh no," Ronnie Anne whispered to herself. She turned and saw Lincoln frantically calling someone on his phone.

"Clyde? Clyde!" Lincoln tried calling his best friend but got no response. He hung up and tried another number, this time, Rusty. As luck would have it, he answered the call.

"Hey, Linc. What's up?" Rusty asked although Lincoln could not help but notice that he sounded like he had a frog in his throat.

"What's this about an outbreak?" Lincoln probed.

"Oh that. Well, some kids were- ***cough-cough* **very sick so they sent the rest of us home," Rusty answered.

"Rusty, tell me you guys didn't get it," Lincoln pleaded.

"Clyde- ***COUGH*** got it first. Don't worry, man. It's just a b-," was all Lincoln heard Rusty speak before he heard a thud, meaning the phone was dropped on the floor when Rusty passed out.

"No, no, no," Lincoln said in a panicked tone. He called his other friends but got no response out of them. Lincoln thought that they must have passed out from the infection as well. Then he thought of his sisters who attended that same school. What if they got this bug? He called his dad, who picked up instantly.

"Lincoln, I can't talk right now. We have a situation here," Lynn Sr. responded to the phone call.

"Please don't tell me one of my sisters has this virus," Lincoln begged.

"I had to bring back Lucy from school a few hours ago. Her temperature skyrocketed and Lisa can't tell why," Lynn Sr. briefed.

"Well, now the whole school's got it. What about the others?" Lincoln inquired.

"The whole school? I only knew about Lucy," Lynn Sr. replied. He saw Vanzilla pull up to the drive and Rita was rushing towards the door, carrying something, or someone, that Lynn Sr. couldn't make out.

"Dang it, not good," Lynn Sr. commented. Once Rita got inside, the truth became starkly apparent. Rita was carrying Lana, who looked like she was on death's door. Without a word, she raced upstairs to the twins' bedroom and lay Lana onto her bed.

"She must've caught it when she helped Lucy to the nurse's office. When I got there, it looked more like a war hospital than a school," Rita explained. Lola was beside herself with worry over her twin. Thankfully, she didn't show any signs of infection. Lisa assessed Lana and found she had the same symptoms as Lucy.

"I'm going to make some calls to a few friends at the CDC and see if they can make sense of this," Lisa told Rita, Lynn Sr. and Lola and went to her room to start some video calls. At the laser tag arena, Lincoln was freaking out.

"You OK, Linc?" Ronnie Anne probed.

"No, I am not OK. Here I am playing laser tag while my friends and family are all gravely sick. I should've gone back when I had the chance," Lincoln ranted.

"I doubt you could've been able to stop this, Lincoln. Isn't your sister Lisa like, super-smart?" Sid tried to calm Lincoln down.

"She's the smartest there is," Lincoln responded.

"I don't know Lisa, but if she's as smart as you say she is, she'll find a way to cure this," Ronnie Anne assured Lincoln and pulled him into a comforting hug. This helped Lincoln, if only slightly.

"Thanks, Ronnie. I needed that," Lincoln said gratefully. The three friends went to finish the second round, which was a free-for-all. Somehow, sharpening the skills Luna taught him had taken his mind off the immediate crisis, at least for the half-hour the round went on for.

At the No Stop station, Albert had just finished watching the news coverage of the school closure and could not help but be concerned. Normally, a few kids getting sick wouldn't be something he'd be concerned with, but with the wand still out there, plus the story he remembered Vanessa telling once, about the old hermit, he suspected this had Bill's hand in things.

"Vanessa, does this virus have any similarities to the plague mentioned on that scroll you told us about?" Albert queried.

"That thing? It was written a thousand years ago. I just dismissed it as some then-unknown illness we would have treatments for," Vanessa responded.

"But are the symptoms the same then as they are here?" Albert reiterated.

"Yes, but he never recorded an outbreak of this magnitude. Then again, he was a hermit. I think this was why he chose solitude, to spare others," Vanessa reasoned. Albert went into the storage closet and took out a device that looked like a pair of nose plugs. He pressed a button on the side of his nose and from the device spawned a mask covering his nose and mouth.

"Excalibur gear, designed to filter out chemicals and biological toxins. I'm going to pay the Louds a visit. If any of the sisters are infected, I'll get readings and send them to HQ. Maybe Doctor Pike can give me a clue as to what this is," Albert summarised.

"You think this could be linked to what happened to Luan?" Monogram asked.

"At this point, I'm not ruling anything out. Hold the fort until I get back. I get a feeling this is going to get real ugly, real quick. There's more of these masks in the closet when you need them, and you will," Albert replied. He flew out in his Butterfly form and headed straight for the Loud House. When he arrived, he rang the door-bell and Lynn Sr. answered.

"I think I can guess why you're here," Lynn Sr. greeted.

"I need to examine one of the infected sisters," Albert requested.

"Aren't you blunt. The last time my family helped you, she came back in a coma," Lynn Sr. rebuffed, making no effort to hide his distrust.

"About that. I've been thinking about Luan's case, and if it's what I think it is, I may be able to bring her out of her slumber, but for now, we have more pressing concerns, namely this sickness that's been making the rounds," Albert said.

"We do need all the help we can get, and you do have a fancy institute at your disposal. Alright, come in" Lynn Sr. welcomed Albert into his home, albeit very reluctantly. He went up to Lucy's room and scanned her with his watch. He got some good readings on the virus, its morphology, rate of replication and the damage it was doing. On his way out, Albert went into Luan's room and went up to her bedside.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you," Albert whispered in her ear. He was eyeing her up and down, then he left. He addressed Lynn Sr. "Good news, it is what I think it is and I may be able to wake Luan up, but first I have an outbreak to contain. Stay vigilant," Albert briefed Lynn Sr. and vacated the Loud House. When he got back to the station, he transmitted everything he had to Doctor Pike.

"I'll run some simulations and give you a prognosis in a few hours," Pike briefed.

"We may not have that long. Early indications say that the whole town will be at risk," Albert urged.

"I'll see what I can do," Pike conceded and hung up the interdimensional comms. At the Loud House, Lisa was doing the same thing.

"I have sent over my findings to the CDC and even my interdimensional pen pal. We should have some answers soon," Lisa informed the family. Everyone, bar Lori and Lincoln, was at home now, having heard the news and taken offers from their respective school heads to go home early. Leni, being her kind, caring self, offered to help Lisa with caring for Lucy and Lana as much as she could before she had to go to work at Reininger's, which was much appreciated, giving Lisa more time to research an anti-serum. A few hours passed and Leni was at work, when Lisa came down, a sad, sullen look on her face.

"The simulations are complete," Lisa told the family.

"What do they say?" Lynn inquired, her voice shaking with fear. Lisa brought up a presentation she had prepared.

"The virus works by attacking the mitochondria, the power-house of the cell, if you will, robbing the cell of the energy it needs to work. Not only that, but this virus also destroys living cells and inhibits cell mitosis, meaning cells are being destroyed faster than they're being replaced. Finally, the more the body tries to fight the foreign body, the more aggressive it becomes," Lisa lectured.

"What does all this mean?" Luna asked, fearful of the answer.

"It means that if I can't find an anti-serum within the next few days, Lucy, Lana, and anyone else infected is going to die," Lisa concluded. Everyone gasped in shock and mortal terror. At the No Stop station, Doctor Pike gave Albert a similar prognosis.

"No. No way, dude. You've got to fix this," Luna rebutted.

"I'm not sure if I can. This virus is more complicated than anything I've seen before," Lisa doubted herself. Lola was having none of this.

"I'll tell you what you're going to do, Miss Smarty Pants. You are going to go up to that lab of yours and SAVE. MY. TWIN!" Lola demanded then burst into tears. "You have to," she added tearfully. Luna then got a phone call from Sam.

"Luna, I'll have to take a rain check on our date. It's my little brother, he's very ill," Sam told Luna.

"I get it. My little sisters are sick too," Luna understood Sam's plight.

"Lunes, he's started coughing up blood. Is this thing lethal?" Sam cried. Luna didn't want to worry Sam but also didn't want to lie to her either. She settled on the truth.

"That's what Lisa tells me. Don't fret, she's on this," Luna tried to assure Sam.

"I have to go," Sam replied and hung up. Another phone call, this time the landline. Rita answered it.

"Hello? Oh hi, Mrs. Carmichael. What's that? Oh, I see. Well, thank you for informing me. I'll be right there," Rita said over the phone and hung up. "That was Reininger's. Leni has collapsed at work and has been rushed to the hospital," Rita solemnly informed the family.

Author's note: I have been itching to write this part of the story for a while. It gives me a chance to show off my scientific background. I'm not a genius like Lisa, but my post-school education was mostly scientific. I am aiming to make the stakes high this time around, more personal, rather than just another save-the-day affair. Also, from this point onwards, I have decided to show coughing fits in star keys, bold text and change the size of the letters depending on how badly a character is coughing up their insides. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. Nickelodeon owns The Loud House. Enjoy.


	7. Nightmare fuel

**Nightmare fuel**

At the Casagrandes, Lori, Lincoln, Sid and the whole Casagrande family were watching The Dream Boat. Each had their own pick as to who would be chosen this week. Sid, having never seen the show, was an instant fan. She had also never been on a cruise before and seeing the program made her want to even more. At least she knew it would never get boring. Lincoln was using this as another distraction from the illness that had spread across his school, confident that Lisa would find an antidote, as she often did.

"I really hope Evelyn chooses Tyrone. He's so sensitive and sweet," Lori guessed.

"What about Luke? Tall, dark and handsome, much," Ronnie Anne interjected.

"My money's on David. He has career aspirations. I can tell he'd be a great provider should they ever settle down," Sid added.

"But he's so bland. He spoke with this monotone voice through their entire date that was so boring I fell asleep half-way through," Lincoln argued. The others all agreed on this.

"Lori, I can see why you and your sisters like watching the show with this one. He's got a taste. Good thing you snapped him up, Ronnie," Carlota teased.

"How many times? Lincoln's not my boyfriend," Ronnie Anne responded.

Guys, it's starting," Lori hushed the group. The program came on and Evelyn was set to choose her first mate.

"So, Evelyn. Who will you choose to be your first mate?" the host asked.

"Well, it was a difficult choice, but it would have to be-" Evelyn was going to make her decision until something else came up on the screen.

'We interrupt this broadcast to bring you an emergency address from the White House'

"This can't be good," Ronnie Anne commented to herself. An image of the President of the United States appeared giving the said address to the nation.

'My fellow Americans. An hour ago, I was handed a report from the CDC detailing the nature of a highly infectious and deadly virus that is sweeping across a small town in south-eastern Michigan called Royal Woods. Their hospitals and doctor's offices are filled to bursting with patients showing signs of what the CDC has now dubbed the Michigan Flu. Projections indicate those infected have mere days to live. Conventional anti-virals are ineffective and efforts to vaccinate against this disease have proven fruitless. An investigation into the source of the virus has traced the origin to an elementary school that closed early due to multiple instances of ill health among its staff and students. In six hours, this virus has infected just over 40% of the population of this town. It is with great sadness that I must inform you that I have ordered the CDC and the National Guard to implement a quarantine of the town. None except medical and military personnel are allowed to enter Royal Woods at this time, and no-one can leave. Volunteers with medical and military training are being called upon to help stem this crisis. I am assured that the CDC is working round the clock to find a cure, but casualties are expected. Our thoughts and prayers are with the residents of Royal Woods at this time. May God save you.'

'We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming'

"No," Lori whispered in despair.

"The Death card. It all makes sense now," Rosa observed.

"I thought it was just the school that got hit. How did it spread so far so quickly?" Lincoln wondered. Lori was immediately on the phone to her father.

"It often happens. Sick kids get sent home, give it to their parents and any other siblings they have, so on and so forth," Carlos outlined. Maria was already preparing to leave.

"Where are you going, Mija?" Rosa questioned.

"You heard the announcement. They're calling for volunteers with medical training," Maria responded.

"You can't be serious!" Frida remarked.

"Mum, this isn't your typical flu virus. Catching this is a death sentence," Ronnie Anne protested.

"As long as I'm careful, I'll be fine, but I can't just sit here and watch while our old home goes up in flames. I have to do something," Maria resolved and left the building. Lori just got off the phone and looked like she was about to break down. When Bobby noticed and went to hold her, she let it all out.

"Don't tell me, more of our sisters caught this," Lincoln guessed grimly.

"Lana got it a few hours after Lucy, and Leni was rushed to the hospital a few minutes ago," Lori informed. Even Lincoln was struggling for words now. He liked to call himself the man with a plan, but at the moment, his strategic mind was coming up empty. He had no way to deal with this. Ronnie Anne made to hold Lincoln's hand, offering a sympathetic gesture of kindness, which Lincoln took.

At the No Stop station, Albert, Monogram, and Vanessa were monitoring the news feeds constantly. Having heard the address from the White House and seen the quarantine being put into place, all agreed that the time for subtlety was over. Action needed to be taken. Just as they were about to decide what to do, an alert appeared on the laptop.

"Says here they've converted the mall and three school gyms into emergency quarantine centres to deal with the overflow, but they're filling up fast," Vanessa read the latest news.

"They'll need supplies. Take everything we can spare. Wear masks and gloves at all times. I'll see if Doctor Pike is willing to work with Lisa on an anti-serum," Albert briefed.

"What about the wand?" Monogram inquired.

"Saving lives comes first," Albert answered. Monogram and Vanessa agreed and left on their humanitarian mission while Albert went to the Loud House. While flying there in his Butterfly form, he noticed a teenage boy heading in the same direction. He wasn't wearing a mask to help protect him from infection, and the looters, which the National Guard had been called in to try and quell, as well as desperate citizens hoping to get out of town before they got infected., had their sights set on him, as he brought a basket with a card and treats inside it. The boy took one look behind him and made a run for it. The looters were pursuing. Albert then sharply descended and sent them flying with a gust of wind summoned from his hand. Albert then turned to face the boy.

"You heading for The Loud House?" Albert asked.

"Y-yeah, my girl's in a coma, so I decided to bring her this," the boy replied. Albert then put two and two together and deduced that this was Benny, the boy Luan was with when they witnessed the Dread Mistress in action.

"Benny, right? You haven't heard, have you?" Albert probed.

"Heard what?" Benny responded.

"I'll get you to The Loud House. I'm heading that way too. There's more you need to know," Albert offered. Once he and Benny reached the house, Albert had told him about the virus and the quarantine of Royal Woods. Since Benny had no younger siblings and had left his own house without seeing the emergency broadcast, he was left in the dark. Thankfully, this also meant he was not showing signs of infection. Albert rang the doorbell and Lynn Sr. answered the door.

"What do you want now?" Lynn Sr. asked with a hint of frustration.

"I came to offer my help once again. My Chief Medical Officer has been informed of this disaster and has a wealth of insight to offer. Given some arm-twisting from me, he is more than willing to help Lisa research an anti-serum," Albert informed.

"She could certainly use the help," Lynn Sr. said with a hint of hope.

"There's more. I believe I can wake Luan up, and this fine young gentleman is going to help me," Albert added. He gestured towards Benny.

"I am?" Benny asked, confused.

"Yes. Yes, you are," Albert responded and ushered Benny into the house.

"But how can I help?" Benny inquired, still confused.

"I'll explain when we get to your girlfriend's bedroom," Albert replied.

"Wait, what?! We've only had one date and now I'm already going to her bedroom?!" Benny rebuffed, glowing all shades of red.

"Listen, Benny. In the space of a week, you've seen a dark sorceress drive people mad with fear powers, a deadly virus sweeping across town and a Butterfly man send five fully grown men flying with the wave of his hands, and you're nervous about this?" Albert pressed.

"OK, fair enough," Benny conceded and was escorted, albeit reluctantly, by Lynn Sr. to Luan and Luna's room.

"And here I thought it was the dad's duty to keep the boyfriend out of his daughter's bedroom," Albert observed.

"Oh, shut up," Lynn Sr. responded. Albert then went to Lisa's room. He was going to ask Lisa whether she'd be willing to accept help from Doctor Pike on her research, but something else caught his eye.

"Why is there a baby in a stasis chamber in your room?" Albert asked, referring to Lily asleep in what looked like a hibernation pod.

"That is something I had put in place for this very situation. She is only 15 months old and thus, highly susceptible to infection," Lisa explained.

"Right, anyway, I wanted to put you in contact with my Chief Medical Officer. Don't worry, he's been briefed about you, so he knows what you're capable of," Albert got back on track.

"The more, the merrier. Lucy, Lana, and Leni are not getting any better while we wait here and every delay is fatal," Lisa agreed to speak to Doctor Pike. Albert connected her laptop to Excalibur's interdimensional comms and Pike instantly came on screen.

"Ah, the famous Lisa Loud. How novel that four-year-olds are allowed to get Ph.D.'s in your dimension. Next, it'll be babies in high school," Pike introduced himself.

"Have you made any progress, Doctor?" Albert inquired.

"Unfortunately, I must pile on even more bad news. I've run some simulations of possible antidotes and what I've found is troubling. It seems the virus is very adaptive and aggressive at the same time," Pike outlined.

"I've noticed that as well. The more the host body fights the virus, the stronger it becomes. It's a vicious cycle," Lisa added.

"Yes, well, in my simulations, not only did all antidotes fail, the virus itself got stronger as a result. In short, if we do nothing, people die, but if we do something and fail, people die faster," Pike summarised.

"The odds are not with us, but rational thinking and analytical minds excel under pressure. We'll get this done," Lisa admitted.

"We'll keep trying, Captain, but if I were you, I'd prepare for the worst," Pike addressed Albert.

"I'll leave you to it, doctor," Albert said and left the room. As he was making his way to Luan's room, he saw Lola come upstairs with a mask on, visiting her twin sister. Lana handed Lola a piece of paper with some writing on it.

"What's this?" Lola asked.

"Instructions. ***COUGH-cough*** For how to look after my lizards," Lana replied.

"You can do that yourself when you get over this," Lola insisted.

"It never hurts- ***COUGH-COUGH* **to be prepared for the end," Lana countered. Lola could not help but tear up when Lana said this.

"You can't go. I need you," Lola stated.

"You'll manage. ***cough*** I know you will," Lana assured. She took Lola's hand into her own. "Because you are Lola Loud," Lana added. A rather nasty coughing fit ensued and Lana passed out again. Lisa came rushing in and examined her. After a while, she came back out again.

"Lana's condition has been upgraded from critical to severe. She has a few hours, a day at most," Lisa informed. While Lola went into Lincoln's room and started crying her eyes out, Albert passed Lucy and Lynn's room.

"How could I- ***COUGH*** let him trick me like this?" Lucy asked regretfully.

"Lucy, none of this is your fault. Put the blame where it belongs," Lynn urged.

"Thanks, Lynn. ***cough-cough-cough*** That makes me feel a little better," Lucy acknowledged.

"Come on, Lucy. Would the Dread Mistress let a measly bug stop her?" Lynn tried to cheer Lucy up with a little playful teasing.

"No, she wouldn't," Lucy responded. Albert finally made it to Luna and Luan's room, where Benny, Lynn Sr. and Luna were waiting.

"So, it really is that bad. I should've put a mask on," Benny commented.

"Lisa has plenty, but let's focus on Luan. You said you could wake her up. How?" Lynn Sr. asked Albert.

"I've seen this before. Bill had a boy in a similar trance a while back. We brought him out of it by sending two of his friends to extract him," Albert explained.

"Drawing blanks, dude," Luna stated.

"Well, there is a spell that can allow a person or people to enter another person's dream state. I can wake Luan up by sending you two to sleep here in this world while your mind travels into Luan's dream. Once there, all you have to do is convince Luan she's dreaming, get her to imagine a door out and walk through it," Albert clarified.

"Why us? Can't you go in?" Luna inquired.

"Her mind will be more receptive to people she's close to, and you and Benny fit the bill. I'd send you too, Lynn Sr. but you're needed out here more," Albert answered.

"I don't understand a word of it, but I'm willing to try anything," Benny accepted the mission.

"Ready when you are," Luna added. They shifted Luan towards the wall, allowing Benny to be able to lie down beside her, which earned some snickering from Luna, who took her sleeping position on the top bunk.

"One other thing. Bill will most likely put in defences to keep Luan from waking. If you encounter him, just imagine some cool fighting stuff and you should repel him easily. Ironically, despite being a dream demon, he's weakest in the mindscape," Albert briefed.

"All in the mind," Luna said. Albert then cast the spell on the bunk bed and Luna and Benny were asleep instantly.

Rita had finally arrived at the hospital, where the CDC was already stationed. She was given a mask and gloves and told to always wear them while inside. When she asked to see Leni, she was taken to her bedside. With her were Fiona, Miguel, and Mrs. Carmichael. Leni herself looked in a very bad way.

"What happened?" Rita inquired.

"We didn't know why, but it was a slow day with not a lot of customers, so Leni decided to help with the inventory. We had just finished stacking the boxes of sweaters when I noticed Leni leaning against the wall for support. A few coughing fits later told me she wasn't well, and when she passed out I immediately called 911," Fiona recounted.

"She always did work hard. A little too hard, if you ask me," Miguel added. Leni was now just waking up.

"Hey, mum. When did you get here?" Leni probed.

"Hi, sweetie. I heard you weren't feeling well, so I rushed right over," Rita replied.

"It's nothing. ***COUGH-cough-cough*** I should get back to-" Leni dismissed while trying to get up.

"No, you don't. As your boss, I'm ordering you to remain here and rest. The store will still be there when you recover. Don't push yourself, you're one of my most valued employees," Mrs. Carmichael asserted.

"OK. ***cough-cough*** I'm not really in a position to argue anyway," Leni conceded and lay back down. Just then, another nurse came rushing in, fully kitted out.

"Maria? I thought you moved," the hospital receptionist noted.

"Came back as soon as I heard the news. How many affected?" Maria queried.

"Too many, and more are coming in by the hour. I'd say we're standing room only if any of our patients could stand," the receptionist observed. It was true what she said. When Rita entered, all she could see were people on stretchers either unconscious or coughing their insides out. Just when she could take note of who exactly was in here, another stretcher was rushed inside by paramedics. This time, however, Rita recognised who was lying on this one. The teal streak in her blonde hair gave it away.

"How did she fall ill?" Maria probed.

"Caring for her little brother," the paramedic briefed Maria. Sam looked like she was in the early stages of the infection. Now Rita was struggling with how to tell Luna. The two adults that came with her, most likely the parents, were beside themselves with worry and grief. Rita knew how they felt. She herself had three children who were sick. That was when Rita decided she wanted to get stuck in. True, she was only a dental nurse, but that did involve some degree of medical training. She went to the receptionist and offered her services. They accepted her help and she was busy caring for the other patients. She called up her husband to tell him what she was doing.

"OK, honey. Just be careful, and watch out for Leni. Let me know if anything else happens," Lynn Sr. instructed.

"Actually, there is one thing. Is Luna available?" Rita asked, hoping to bite the bullet now rather than later.

"It's complicated, but she's helping wake Luan up with some magic spell, why?" Lynn Sr. informed.

"It's Sam, she was brought in a minute ago," Rita told Lynn Sr.

"I'll let her know when she's finished with Luan. How bad is she?" Lynn Sr. probed.

"She's not dead yet, so there's hope," Rita answered.

Back at the Loud House, Luna and Benny successfully made their way into Luan's dream. They found themselves outside the house, only it had been labeled 'the fun-house'. Once they got to the front door and begun to open it, they were covered in head-to-toe with syrup. Then, a leaf blower blew feathers onto them and, finally, they were being chased by crows. Luna recognised this as one of Luan's pranks and quickly came to the conclusion that the label 'fun-house' was meant to be ironic.

"Great, Luan's dreaming it's April Fool's Day," Luna commented.

"What, all I get is a pie in the face," Benny remarked.

"Consider yourself lucky, dude," Luna replied. They tried the back door and found no traps, but upon entering, they fell down a water slide leading straight towards the basement. "The sooner we find Luan, the better," Luna said through gritted teeth. As soon as Luna and Benny focused on finding Luan, they immediately found her in the kitchen, opening the fridge and subsequently getting hit with a spring-loaded boxing glove. This was getting strange. Why would Luan fall for one of her own pranks? Something wasn't right. They approached Luan, who looked at them with fear and loathing.

"Come to point and laugh more, have you?" Luan demanded. Now Luna was really confused.

"Point and laugh? No, I'm here to wake you up. This is a dream, after all," Luna clarified.

"Dream? More like a nightmare. But it's hopeless. Every time I try to leave I end up back here, getting pranked endlessly," Luan replied with a hint of pessimism Luna had never heard from her before.

"Just try. Come on, you can do it," Benny encouraged. Luan did summon a door, but when she attempted to walk through it, she was met with a water hose that sent her backwards, only she wasn't sprayed with water, but pickle juice. Suddenly, someone emerged from the dining room. It was Lincoln or a dream version of him.

"Guess getting out of here is going to be a real pickle. Ha-ha-ha-ha," dream Lincoln punned.

"Real funny, Linc!" Luan yelled.

"These must be the defences Albert was on about," Luna guessed.

"What's he got to do with this?" Luan wondered.

"He's the one who sent us to get you out. He's helping to cure the plague that's cropping up everywhere," Benny answered.

"Wait, plague? How long have I been out?" Luan inquired.

"All night and half the day. Look, Royal Woods is in a bad way and we need your help. What's the last thing you remember before you wound up here?" Luna quizzed. Luan thought for a moment.

"I was following Lucy to this abandoned house, Lynn and I confronted her about the Dread Mistress. That's when he took over Lucy's body. I saw a flash of light and when I woke up, I was here, getting pranked and told really bad puns non-stop," Luan recollected.

"That must've been horrible," Benny calmed Luan.

"You don't get it, Benny. What you see here, is what I do to all my sisters on a regular basis," stated Luan. Suddenly, the scene transitioned to last April Fool's Day, when Luan turned the stunt doubles meant to take the hits for the family into weapons to use against them. Benny saw scenes of a fake Lincoln 'confessing' her love for Mrs. Johnson, a fake Lynn throwing a tetherball game to Zach and a fake Leni showing the real Leni's friends the white hair she had done.

"Wow, I never knew about any of that," Benny remarked. The scene transitioned again to the April Fool's Day before, when the entire family minus Luan stayed at that hotel. Benny and Luna saw scenes of Lana falling into rhubarb pie, which she was allergic to, Lucy getting covered in bleach, to name a few. Needless to say, Benny was pretty disturbed.

"What if this is karma finally giving me what I deserve? What if this is my punishment for all the horrible things I do to you guys?" Luan spiralled into depression and guilt," Luan said sadly and started crying. Luna went up to her.

"Your pranks and jokes get a bit much, sometimes. I'm not going to lie. But I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Yes, they hurt, but it's not too late to atone for your sins. Don't you see, this is what Bill wants. He wants you to doubt yourself, to think you're the worst kind of monster imaginable, but the only monster here is him. You're more than just a prankster, you're the one always cheering us up when we're down. It's been that way our whole lives," Luna gave a really moving speech. When Luna started recalling all the good times she had with Luan, the scene transitioned from the house to their bedroom.

"I remember this, it was when I slipped the note in Sam's locker," Luna recalled. On cue, a depressed-looking Luna walked into the room.

"Rough day, huh?" Luan asked.

"I finally told Sam it was me that wrote her the note and she just turned around and walked away without a word. I guess it was too much to hope that she liked me," Luna responded. Luan then got out Mr. Coconuts.

"Come on, toots, don't say that. You're a great catch. Who else can make me dance my booty off, and I'm just a dummy. If this Sam chick doesn't fall for you, that's her loss. There are plenty more fish in the sea, doll," Luan consoled Luna, doing her Mr. Coconuts voice. Then Luna got a text message from Sam.

"Wanna talk?" it said. Luna then sported a smile on her face. It was Benny's turn to cheer Luan up.

"Then there's me. I wouldn't trade my time with you for anything in the world. I don't care what I just saw, you're still a good person to me, Luan," Benny piped up. The scene transitioned to the two of them on a bench at school.

"Our first kiss," Luan remembered.

"What, you got your first kiss before I did? Bogus!" Luna jokingly exclaimed.

"Since then, you've made me happier than I've ever been. I consider myself lucky to have someone like you in my life. Never stop being you, for anything," Benny gave his heartfelt request to Luan. Hearing this was what Luan needed. She was done regretting the past.

"Let's get out of here," Luan resolved. Just then, they saw the dream Lincoln walk up towards them, a familiar voice coming out of his mouth.

"Now why would you want to do that?" Bill-Lincoln inquired with a sinister tone. The image of Lincoln transformed into Bill's true self. Luna couldn't help but laugh.

"This is Bill's true form? I'm shaking in my boots," Luna mocked.

"Run, it's a nacho in a bow tie," Benny chuckled. They both laughed at how comical they found Bill's appearance.

"As much as I'd love to 'relish' the opportunity, I really must-ard be going. I'll tor-see you later," Luan punned.

"That's my girl," Benny said proudly. As soon as Luan summoned a door out, Bill slammed it shut with an extended arm. He grew in size until he blocked out the dream sun. Safe to say, no-one was laughing.

"Think I'm funny, now?!" Bill boomed. He summoned cages around Luna, Luan, and Benny. He then got in real close. "Welcome to my nightmare," Bill threatened. This earned a summoned pie in the face from Luan, right in Bill's eye. "Oh come on! Nothing ever changes. Everyone goes for the eye," Bill ranted. At that point, Luna and Benny remembered what Albert said, to imagine stuff and it would happen. Benny thought of some lines from Shakespearean plays he liked and summoned a dream version of Shakespeare to recite them.

"To be, or not to be. That is the question," he spoke. He went on to recite more of his most famous lines.

"What, classical theatre? That is so boring, it hurts!" Bill winced. It was Luna's turn. She summoned her guitar and started playing the loudest Mick Swagger song she could remember. At that point, a dream version of Mick Swagger himself sang the lyrics. "Not rock and roll, too!" Bill recoiled.

"He's distracted. Let's get out of here," Luna urged. Luan imagined another door out of the dream. This time, it was unguarded and Bill was in too much pain to respond. They all rushed through it, Luan and Benny holding hands as they did so.

Back at the Loud House, Luna, Luan, and Benny were coming around. To Luan and Benny's surprise, they woke up next to each other.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," Benny greeted.

"Wakey, wakey, Prince Charming," Luan returned the greeting.

"Alright, enough, we have a town and family to save," Luna groaned. They all got up and saw Albert standing over them.

"Mission accomplished, I see," Albert observed. Luan was finding moving around a little difficult. Albert had called Lisa over to give her the good news, something which she could use right now. Lisa came in and looked Luan over.

"You've been out for over 12 hours, so your muscles have slightly atrophied. Fear not, I'll get the electrodes," Lisa diagnosed. She went to get said electrodes when Luna stopped her.

"How about she eats first? Then we can do the whole 'electro-static stimulation of the muscles' routine," Luna interjected.

"Benny brought you a gift basket," Albert stated. Benny volunteered to stay with Luan and help her recover from her ordeal, both physically and psychologically. "I hear massage therapy helps with the muscles better than electrodes," Albert suggested, to which Luna dragged him out the room.

"Don't give him ideas, dude," Luna warned. Lynn Sr. approached the pair.

"Luna. So, Luan's awake, is she?" Lynn Sr. probed.

"And in capable hands," Albert replied, earning him an elbow from Luna.

"Some good news, at least. Luna, I got a call from your mother. She saw Sam being wheeled in a few minutes ago," Lynn Sr. informed. Luna then immediately called her.

"Hey, Lunes. How're things?" Sam asked weakly.

"You sound terrible," Luna said despairingly.

"Gee, thanks. ***cough-cough*** I think we'll need to put our- ***COUGH*** plans on hold for a while," Sam remarked.

"Just sit tight and keep your fluids up. We'll have something soon," Luna assured and hung up. "We will have something, right?" Luna tearfully queried. Just then, Albert got a call. It was the Sisterhood.

"We found the wand, but you're not going to like what it's doing," the sister notified. The sisters at Royal Woods did indeed find the wand, but it was glowing ominously and transforming into something else the sisters could not and dare not imagine.

Author's note: Here we are, the home stretch. Just one more chapter left and that'll be a wrap, I think. Never know where my story's going to go half the time. I really don't know how to treat muscle atrophy, I just guessed, plus I really wanted an excuse to write somewhat comedic dialogue for Albert. Also, I'm not good with puns, so forgive me if I portrayed Luan as not funny. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. Nickelodeon owns The Loud House. Enjoy.


	8. An end and a beginning

**An end and a beginning**

Luna was still in shock after hearing that Sam had come down with the deadly disease spreading across Royal Woods. Her emotional state was a mix of desperation, hoping for a cure, and fear that she may lose her love. While waking Luan from her coma was a small victory, she stood to lose so much more. All the Loud family did. Three sisters were sick, one of them critically. They needed an anti-serum and they needed it yesterday. Fortunately, Lisa and Pike had a theory, although only one of the pair called it that.

"It's the best theory we have. I'd like to see you come up with any better," Pike argued via the interdimensional comms.

"Oh, please. It's more of a shot in the dark than a plausible scientific theory," Lisa rebuffed.

"If a shot in the dark is what it takes to save this town, then so be it," Pike countered.

"What theory, Doctor?" Albert inquired.

"Well, we know Bill created the virus using both science and magic, so what if a similar mixture of science and alchemy can create a cure?" Pike postulated.

"Pure poppycock! As if potions and rituals are any better than tried and tested anti-biotics," Lisa rebutted.

"This is Bill we're talking about. The being with millions of years worth of magical knowledge. If this virus does have magical properties, then looking at it through a purely scientific lens will not get us anywhere," Pike explained.

"You have to admit, it makes sense, and I think I might know where to start looking. There's an order of witches called the Sisterhood of the Shining Light that operates in this dimension. Maybe their leader can help us out," Albert suggested.

"If she's a skilled alchemist, then I wouldn't mind getting her input on this matter," Pike agreed.

"Small problem; this town's under quarantine. No-one can enter or leave without authorisation. How will you get her here?" Lisa asked.

"Portal power, but I need to know where she is. Luan mentioned a name to me once, Rosa Casagrande," Albert answered.

"Ronnie Anne's grandmother? She lives out in Great Lakes City. Lincoln and Lori are there on a retreat," Lisa added.

"Then that's where I'm going next. If she can help find a cure, it's an avenue worth exploring. Keep things together until I get back," Albert advised. On his way out of Lisa's room, he ran into Luna.

"Do you think you could use your portals to get me to the hospital?" Luna requested.

"Is this about that Sam person? I take it they're special to you," Albert guessed.

"Sam's my girl. I need to be there for her," Luna replied. Albert sympathised with Luna's plight. In his time as Excalibur captain, he had encountered young love all too often, Star and Marco, Milo and Amanda, to name a few.

"Alright, but take this," Albert conceded. He handed Luna a spare Excalibur mask and after showing Luna how to activate it, portalled her to the hospital, where Rita and the Sharp family were waiting. He then conjured a portal to the Casagrande market building rooftop as to not draw attention and stepped through. Once he made his way downstairs to apartment 2A, he knocked on the door and someone fitting Rosa's description answered the door.

"Can I help you?" Rosa inquired.

"Rosa Casagrande?" Albert probed.

"Si, what is this about?" Rosa asked.

"I've been working with your sisters. We have a theory about how to cure the Michigan Flu, but we need your help," Albert explained. Now Rosa was curious.

At the Royal Woods Hospital, Rita was busy caring for both those patients already in and the steady influx of new cases that were regularly being admitted. The hospital got so full they had to set up an extension in the parking lot just to cope. Luna, meanwhile, was at Sam's bedside. When Sam woke up, she saw Luna there and felt a little better from her presence.

"Luna? How did you-" Sam queried, her voice getting weaker as time went on.

"I can't explain it. What matters is that I'm not leaving you," Luna assured. Sam then turned her head to face her parents.

"Mum, Dad. ***COUGH-cough*** There's something you need to know," Sam stated.

"It can wait until you're better. Save your energy," Mr. Sharp pleaded.

"No, it can't" Sam panted, paused, and spoke again. "Luna's not just my best friend. She's- ***COUGH-COUGH-cough*** She's my girlfriend" Sam confessed. Mr. and Mrs. Sharp were taken by surprise at this revelation. They would discuss it further, but Sam was having an especially nasty coughing fit and passed out again. She was still alive, but Luna could not help but feel as if time was fast running out, for Sam and for everyone else in here and the other quarantine centres. Rita noticed the Sharp family's distress and went to see what was going on. Mrs. Sharp then turned to Luna.

"So, you're seeing my daughter?" Mrs. Sharp quizzed. Rita then realised what had happened.

"I am so sorry you had to find out like this, but yes, it is true" Rita clarified. Both parents struggled to keep it together. Mr. Sharp, in particular, was close to breaking down.

"Why didn't she tell us before?" Mr. Sharp asked.

"She told me she was scared of how you would react, that you might not accept that it was really who she is," Luna answered.

"Sam was never your typical teenage girl, favouring rock music over boy bands and never talking about crushes," Mrs. Sharp described.

"Still, I'd like to have known sooner, rather than finding out while she lays dying on a hospital bed" Mr. Sharp replied and finally broke down. Mrs. Sharp came over to comfort him but finding it hard not to break down herself. Luna then took Sam's hand into her own.

"Hang in there, Sam. We're close to something. I can feel it," Luna wished.

In the Casagrande building, Albert had finished explaining everything to Rosa, who he was, the wand's origins, the nature of the virus and Pike's theory about how to beat it. Rosa had already gone into her room and dug out her apothecary kit, picking out precisely what she felt they would need.

"You better be right about this. We may only have one chance to save Royal Woods, so this has to work," Albert said cautiously.

"Trust me, I have been healing my family's aches and pains with these medicines for a long time. I know what I'm doing," Rosa replied.

"If any of your sisters have potion kits, we may need those as well," Albert added.

"Si, I will let them know," Rosa responded. Albert then portalled Rosa into the Loud House, kit and all, when Lori and Lincoln entered the living room.

"We'd like to come too. Our family is in trouble and they need our help," Lori requested.

"Absolutely not. Royal Woods is a danger zone right now and your parents would never let me hear the end of it if you two came down with this sickness," Albert rebuffed.

"Oh, come on. Our friends and family need us," Lincoln replied.

"Our family is literally on their deathbeds and you want to sideline us? No way," Lori dismissed Albert's point.

"I get it. It's not ideal, but this place is a safe haven for you. As soon as the plague is cured, then you can come back, but no sooner," Albert asserted. He made his way through the portal, but just as it was about to close, Lincoln put his finger through, widened it up again with his own hands and he and Lori stepped through, then the portal closed behind them.

"What did I say?" Albert quizzed in disbelief.

"Sorry, bub, but you don't give us orders," Lori responded.

"As we said, our family needs us," Lincoln added. Albert then handed the two a mask from Lisa's stash.

"You want to see your family, what this plague can do, fine, here it is," Albert conceded and opened the door to Lola and Lana's room. Lana was unconscious in her bed, with Lola watching sadly over her. A life support machine had been set up.

"Lisa had the idea to induce a coma to slow the sickness. A prudent measure, but it is only delaying the inevitable," Albert outlined. Lincoln and Lori then turned to Lola.

"Hey, Lola. How is she?" Lincoln inquired.

"Alive. Not very talkative, though," Lola replied.

"Hey, Lana's a fighter. She'll pull through, just you wait and see," Lincoln tried to give Lola hope.

"I'm scared, Lincoln. What if, what if I lose her?" Lola wondered morbidly. Lincoln didn't respond verbally, only by pulling Lola into a sympathetic hug.

"Lynn is very much the same way, only she hasn't spoken a word since Lisa put Lucy in the same coma she did Lana. In my opinion, I think she blames herself for not acting sooner to stop Lucy when she was the Dread Mistress. There's a lot of guilt going around," Albert briefed Lori. Luan then stepped out of her room, rather weakly since she was still recovering from her own ordeal. She too went to hug Lori, let the floodgates out and led her to Lucy's room. The two had no words, only tears. On a more optimistic note, Rosa came forth with some good news, something that was long overdue.

"We think we have something," Rosa informed Albert. Once Albert and Rosa went back into Lisa's room, she, Lisa, and Pike were eager to share their findings.

"After consulting with Mother Rosa, my initial suspicions about the virus' make-up were confirmed. It does have magical properties," Pike summarised.

"Properties which I can block. Once that's done, it turns into a simple flu bug which conventional anti-biotics can cure," Rosa finished.

"Using some choice ingredients from Rosa's kit along with some homegrown formulas, I have been able to synthesise an effective antidote. There's just one problem, we haven't tested it in simulations yet," Lisa briefed.

"There's no time. It's now or never. Start with Lana and Lucy. If it works for them, then we can mass-produce the serum," Albert resolved. Lisa put a small amount of the first sample into a hypodermic needle, went into Lana's room and injected it into her.

"We also won't know if it has worked until we wake her. Thing is if we wake her and it doesn't work, she'll die," Lisa said fearfully.

"It's a risk we'll have to take," Albert replied. Lisa agreed and took her off life support. The monitors were showing a decrease in temperature and respiratory functions were returning to normal. Soon enough, Lana herself woke up, albeit still a little weak.

"What was in that stuff? My head's not pounding anymore," Lana remarked.

"It would seem we have a positive result. Now for Lucy," Lisa observed. Lucy reacted the same way once her dose was administered. Both Lana and Lucy were still a little drowsy.

"That is intentional. I added a small sedative to help you sleep while the serum does its job. Rest up, pets," Rosa assured. Lana and Lucy were sleeping soundly and an air of positivity filled the house once more. Lisa and Rosa were hard at work synthesising more. Rosa's sister's turned up at the house, volunteering their supplies to help with making more doses. Within minutes, they had dozens of vials that were ready to be given to those patients who really needed a cure urgently, such as children and the elderly. Once a batch of doses was ready for shipment, Lisa informed her friends at the CDC that a cure had been formulated, tested and synthesised in mass quantities. They replied saying that they were ready to receive the cure. Albert then opened a portal to the Royal Woods Elementary School gym.

"Lincoln, this is your stop. Time to play hero, as well as delivery boy," Albert told Lincoln. The boy stepped through the portal with the batch loaded onto a cart and everyone there, while stunned by the portal at first, quickly dismissed the phenomena and started administering the antidote. Lincoln took this opportunity to try and find Clyde. That was easy, Clyde's dads never left his side. Their faces lit up when the anti-serum was brought their way. Once Clyde got his shot, he woke up to see Lincoln.

"Ace Savvy saves the day again, I see," Clyde joked.

"What would he be without One-Eyed Jack?" Lincoln replied. Once Clyde was asleep, he went to see his other friends, who had all gotten their doses. Back at the Loud House, more doses were being made. Lisa had told the CDC how to make their own as she did not have enough supplies to make any more than the last few hundred vials they had now. Albert then opened a portal to Royal Woods Middle School gym.

"Lynn, this one's on you. My associate Vanessa is waiting for you," Albert instructed. Lynn took the batch and went through, helping Vanessa make sure everyone got their doses, visiting her soccer team as she did so. As the doses were being transported, Albert sensed an approaching darkness. It was clear that Bill knew of the cure's existence and was moving to destroy it. He and Rosa stepped outside and, sure enough, a dark stream of clouds was heading their way. A simple shield spell protected the house. Rosa stayed outside to hold Bill back as long as she was able while Albert portalled Luan and Benny to the high school gym and Lori to the hospital with batches in hand. In Lori's case, the hospital laboratories had already begun work on making batches of the cure themselves. Between that and the vials Lori brought, there was enough to go around. She went to visit Leni, who had just received her dose.

"Hey, Lori. How was your trip?" Leni asked.

"It was nice, but I'd rather be here right now, looking out for my family," Lori answered. Elsewhere in the hospital, Sam was getting her dose, waking up to a relieved Luna and a very curious family.

"So, it's girls you like, is it?" Mr. Sharp inquired.

"Well, just one," Sam responded, looking in Luna's direction.

"We'll have a lot to talk about once you and your brother come back home," Mrs. Sharp said. Rita had come over after making sure Leni was asleep.

"The CDC tells me they want to keep all those affected overnight for observation, but they should be ready to leave by morning," Rita told the Sharps. Luna then deactivated the Excalibur mask Albert gave her and kissed Sam on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams, girl," Luna wished Sam and left with Rita, along with Lori. They had decided to take Vanzilla back home because, in Luna's words, Albert's portals freaked them out. Lincoln, Lynn, and Luan portalled back home while Benny would get a ride from his own parents. Since the cure was successfully administered, Bill had stopped his assault. However, a call from Lynn soon beckoned them upstairs.

"I thought you said your cure knocked them out. So, why is Lucy sitting up?" Lynn probed. Indeed, Lucy was sitting up, although Albert noticed something was off.

"That's not Lucy," Albert stated. When Lucy did speak, it was with Bill's voice.

"I'm curious. Do you really believe you've accomplished anything here? Tell me, what do you think you've stopped?" Bill-Lucy quizzed menacingly.

"You brought misery and suffering to the people of Royal Woods. I couldn't just stand by and watch while innocents died," Albert replied.

"In so doing, you abandoned your search for my wand. So, the legacy of Lunaro the Healer still endures, putting others before himself, doing everything he can to ease the lives of others regardless of the consequences," Bill-Lucy goaded.

"Says the guy who lost this fight. Your little bug's being cured as we speak and Luan's already out of your nightmare," Lynn countered.

"Small victories. Yet again, simple beings such as yourselves do not see the whole picture. The nightmares and fear the Dread Mistress spread, as well as the energy, sapped from those infected with my 'little bug', have all served to give me a new life. If you don't believe me, feel free to come outside," Bill-Lucy invited and she fell back down to sleep. Everyone present and conscious went outside, and a figure was standing before them. It looked like a human male, wearing a jet black robe and what looked like dark sorcerer attire, and he was holding a staff which had a resemblance to the very wand Albert, Monogram and Vanessa came to find. There was no denying it, Bill had returned.

"So, do you like my new look?" Bill asked.

"Dashing. You know being mortal has its drawbacks, right," Albert replied sarcastically.

"I'm sure it does. I've decided to stick around these 'Uncharted Realms' a while longer. Think of all the chaos and destruction I can unleash when no-one here has heard of me. Of course, I'll have to clear the board of distractions first," Bill chided, implying that he was going to wipe out the Louds.

"Stand back. Let me take care of this villain," Rosa stepped forward, drew her wand and cast a really powerful spell, to be matched by one of Bill's own. Streams of light from Rosa's wand and darkness from Bill's staff collided in mid-air. Albert then transformed into his Butterfly form, but just as it looked like Bill was winning the deadlock, he was knocked down by Lola's mini car.

"That was for almost making me a lonely twin!" Lola remarked. Just as Bill was getting up, still in pain from the collision, a new concept for him, Lynn emerged from the house with a tennis ball shooter and launched a salvo of tennis balls at him.

"That was for manipulating Lucy!" Lynn interjected. Wincing in even more pain, Luan approached him and offered a hand to help him up, but once Bill took it, he found out the hard way that she had one of her joy buzzers in the hand that Bill took and a retractable punching bag in the other, which she then used on him.

"That was for putting me in a coma!" Luan said vengefully. Once Vanzilla arrived and Lori and Luna realised that it was Bill the family was battling, Luna went to the garage and got her guitar and several amplifiers ready. Everyone except Bill covered their ears, anticipating what came next. Luna then played the loudest note she could to rattle Bill's head.

"And that was for unleashing a plague on our friends and family!" Luna yelled.

"Who needs magic when you have all this," Albert observed, turning back into his regular form. Bill, having found the strength to get back up after having taken such a beating, looked on to find Lori getting her golf clubs ready.

"Stop!" Bill said desperately. He laughed it off and then carried on. "You know what, I like you Louds. You've got spunk, especially the princess. So, I'll let you have this victory. But there will come a time when I will rule over all the multiverse. I've got big plans. Just a small suggestion, you may want to get back to the homefront, Captain. From what I hear, things are a real mess over there. A war will come, and everything will be at stake. Until then, keep safe," Bill warned and portalled away.

"What did he mean by 'the homefront'?" Lori asked.

"It means I need to get back to my own dimension as soon as possible. Now that Bill has returned, I'll need to rally a defence," Albert replied.

"Anything we can do to help?" Lincoln inquired.

"Yes, stay out of it. Bill's dangerous, as you've seen. Too many have sacrificed too much to stop his schemes and that is not a price I want any of you to pay," Albert answered.

"He's right, kids. This is not our fight. We should just all be thankful that everybody is alright. Off to bed, all of you, it's late," Rita urged and the Louds all turned in for the night. Albert had portalled Rosa back to her home and he was on his way back to No Stop, which was empty due to all the food being donated to quarantine shelters. Monogram and Vanessa were there waiting for him. Albert had briefed them on what happened with Bill and the wand.

"I'll need to get back to O.W.C.A. and set up a defence of our own. We need to be prepared," Monogram suggested.

"And I should alert the Resistance. If Bill is taking his conquest plans multi-dimensional, no-where will be safe for long," Vanessa added.

"Bill also said something was wrong back home. The first priority should be to establish the situation and formulate a plan," Albert pressed. He portalled Vanessa to the Second Dimension, right in the heart of resistance HQ.

"What about this place?" Monogram probed, wondering about No Stop.

"Evacuate all the Excalibur tech we have here and let the people decide what to do with it. Maybe someone else will take it over," Albert replied. He and Monogram had loaded the Excalibur tech into boxes and portalled it all back to HQ, along with themselves. When they arrived at their home dimension, something felt strange as soon as the portal closed. Before Albert could ask himself why he was feeling so strange, Kilstone ran up to him.

"Sir, you might want to take a look outside. We have a massive problem," Kilstone said nervously.

"Why, what is it?" Albert asked. When he went outside, he immediately found his answer. The sky was not your typical blue and cloudy, more like the pinkish hue Albert was somewhat familiar with and he could've sworn he saw two planetoids in that same sky. Albert recognised the environment right away, but if he didn't see it for himself, he would've had trouble believing it.

"Major, welcome to Mewni," Albert said in sheer disbelief to Monogram, who was having trouble keeping it together. As if that wasn't enough, Monogram also noticed something different about Albert.

"What happened to your cheek marks?" Monogram probed, noticing that Albert's half-moon cheek symbols had vanished. Albert then tried casting some spells, to no avail. Somehow, not only did Earth and Mewni become fused, but Albert's powers were gone too.

"I think I know who's responsible for this," Albert noted. Albert activated a prototype interdimensional communicator in his pocket which emitted a strong signal. "I hope he gets this. We'll need him" Albert added.

The next day, at the Loud House dimension, everyone who was afflicted with the Michigan Flu had been treated and returned home. The CDC and the National Guard were maintaining a minimal presence in Royal Woods to re-establish order and make sure all remaining traces of the virus were extinguished. An advisory was given to all those who received treatment to stay on bed-rest for the next week while they got their strength back and Lucy was back to her normal self, all rumours of the Dread Mistress fizzling away with the plague. Luna had volunteered to watch over Sam and her brother while they were recovering in bed; if only to spend more time with Sam. While Simon was sleeping in the other room, Sam and Luna were in her room, watching a television biography on Mick Swagger.

"So, about your parents knowing about us," Luna addressed.

"There were a lot of questions, but the short version is, they're cool with it. Dad even suspected sometime before but didn't think it was his place to comment," Sam summarised.

"What about your brother?" Luna asked.

"I don't think he cares too much. Besides, he still believes in cooties," Sam teased. The two girls laughed at this statement. Sam then continued. "You know, Luan told me something interesting. She said she got her first kiss before you did," Sam added.

"She did?" Luna remarked, blushing hard. Sam laughed and leaned in closer, making brief lip contact with Luna.

"How was that?" Sam probed.

"I don't know. I think I need to hear an encore," Luna flirted back and the two girls had their first make-out session. For that moment, it was just them alone and it felt like a shared bliss. Back at the Loud House, Benny was in Luan's room, giving her the massage therapy that would help her muscles regain their strength.

"You know, Benny, my face muscles could use some work," Luan tried her hand at flirting. Benny, not getting the hint, was confused.

"No, I think they're fine," Benny responded.

"Oh, just come here," Luan got to the point, pulled Benny away from massaging her legs and they kissed. When they broke apart, Benny was the first to speak.

"You know, for a girl who just came out of a coma, you sure have a lot of energy," Benny noted.

"What can I say? You excite me," Luan said enticingly and they continued kissing. Lori and Lincoln, who had decided to stay rather than go back to their retreat for the other week were busy caring for Lucy, Lana, and Leni. Lincoln then addressed the readers.

"So, that's the story's end. Everyone got cured, Royal Woods is back to normal, no-one knows or cares where the Dread Mistress went off to and all the schools are closed for the week while their students get over the Michigan Flu. All in all, it's been a chaotic week and I'm glad it's over. On the plus side, the new online lesson system got a whole lot more beta testers, as every principal is making their students take their online lessons to make sure they catch up. Still, I can't help but worry about Bill. What's he up to, and will we be able to stop him when he does put his plans into action? Only time will tell," Lincoln told the readers.

At the end of the week, Lori was hosting a sibling meeting to discuss the Bill situation. She, like Lincoln and the other sisters, were concerned about his plans and were not content with sitting on the sidelines while others did the fighting. They were eager for revenge on Bill for endangering their friends and loved ones, especially Lola. They put the matter to a vote.

"Are we all agreed?" Lori asked the floor. All Loud siblings nodded. "Then it's settled. Lisa, how soon can you make things ready?" Lori inquired.

"Everything's set. I anticipated this and had already prepared ahead of time," Lisa answered.

"You sure your inter-dimensional pen pal would be willing to help us?" Luna probed.

"Trust me, he has experience dealing with scoundrels like Bill," Lisa replied.

"Then we leave at nightfall" Lori resolved and banged her shoe on the dresser to signal the meeting's end. Lincoln then turned to the readers once again.

"We all took a vote and it was unanimous. We're going to fight. We've already prepared goodbye notes to all our friends and family and we're leaving Lily behind. Where we're going is no place to bring a baby. It'll be dangerous and we all know the risks. But first, we need to find Bill and that's where Lisa's pen pal comes in," Lincoln explained. Lisa activated her interdimensional portal.

"Wish us luck, guys," Lincoln requested of the readers and all the Loud siblings stepped through.

Author's note: Apologies if this seems like a rushed ending, I just really wanted to get both this chapter and the story done before I go on vacation on Sunday. I'm cruising around Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar for two weeks for some well-deserved time off. To be fair, I already had an outline for the finale in my head, it just needed to take shape. Also, I added the kiss between Luna and Sam because I felt that we were robbed in 'Racing Hearts' so I wrote my own Saluna kiss scene. Take that, censors. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. Nickelodeon owns The Loud House. Enjoy.

And because I'm going on vacation soon and you won't be seeing anything from me in a while, I thought I'd treat you. Instead of one post note scene, I'll bring you several, to keep you occupied. Here's the first one:

Albert was surveying the monitors, watching what was happening all around the globe. He did not know how, but Earth and Mewni have fused together.

"How the hell did this happen?" Albert asked impatiently.

"That is what every world leader around the globe is asking Excalibur and I have no idea what to tell them. We don't even know what happened ourselves," Kilstone replied.

"We know that's Mewni out there, so Star has to be connected in some way. Have her brought to me. I have questions for her," Albert ordered.

"No need, we'll take care of it," came a voice from across the way. It was the President of the United States, along with Congressman Lock and the rest of the members of the Round Table.

"What are they doing here?" Albert inquired.

"They came as soon as it happened" Kilstone responded.

"Mind telling me what the President and several important looking people are doing in your HQ?" Monogram inquired.

"This is the Round Table, a cadre of senators and congresspeople that knew of Excalibur since its inception and have kept our secret in exchange for the power to keep us in check," Albert explained. The Round Table's interest in this matter and their eagerness to speak to Star meant one thing to Albert, Star was in trouble and a lot of it.

"Corn help her," Albert said to himself.

Here's the second one:

The Loud family arrived at the laboratory of Lisa's inter-dimensional pen pal. It looked like Lisa's, except bigger and with more space to work. The others could see why Lisa would want to spend time here, as there were experiments and analytical equipment stretching across the room. Bizarrely, no-one was home.

"Hmm, that's atypical. Usually, around this time, he'd be working on some big project. Or maybe he's delving into some space travel to study some extra-terrestrial anomaly," Lisa observed.

"Your pen pal goes into space? Just what sort of brain box is he?" Lincoln asked.

"The kind that can help us track down Bill and work with some dangerous substances, so please don't touch anything," Lisa cautioned while Lincoln was itching to grab one such invention. It was at that moment that he took note of the plaque on the laboratory wall. The inscription said:

'This laboratory and everything in it is the sole property of J. I. Neutron'

Here's the third one:

Binky was watching the monitors with varying degrees of distress. Over the last few days, he had noted several instances of unidentified magic users in this cluster of dimensions. It was not like him to keep pertinent information from his boss, but Binky could not help but be scared of him and his booming voice. Nevertheless, he had to be told. He went into Jorgan Von Strangle's office, while Jorgan himself was lifting weights.

"Binky! You know I don't like to be disturbed during my morning exercises!" Jorgan yelled.

"But boss, you need to see this," Binky whimpered. Jorgan then walked over to the monitors and saw the unidentified magic-user data for himself.

"Binky! Why did you not tell me about this?!" Jorgan demanded.

"I didn't know what to do, this is my first week here as your personal assistant," Binky answered, scared as to what will happen next.

"And it will be your last if you keep stuff like this from me again. We need to get to the bottom of this. Can you trace their dimension of origin?" Jorgan asked.

"Yes, I can. Here, just a few seconds and there we have it," Binky complied and after a few keystrokes on the computer, traced the data to the dimension of origin.

"We're going to need to send someone to ascertain the nature of this incursion," Jorgan resolved.

"It'll be dangerous," Binky warned.

"I know, we'll send Turner," Jorgan suggested.

At Dimmsdale, Timmy and his best friend Chloe were returning to Timmy's house after rounding up one of Chloe's wishes gone awry, the Fair Bears. They had led them on quite a chase, around the park, into the woods, and even managing to stir up the animals at the zoo. After wiping away some memories with the help of Cosmo and Wanda, who were disguised as dogs, Timmy and Chloe were looking to relax. They had made their way to Timmy's room when Chloe spotted an envelope on Timmy's dresser.

"Has that darn mailman been here? That guy's looking to get a real biting!" Cosmo said stupidly.

"Cosmo, you're not a real dog, you idiot. This is from Fairy World, and it's a summons from Jorgan, judging by the seal," Wanda observed.

"Whatever he wants, I'm not interested. I've had too busy a day to have some roid monkey yell at me," Timmy dismissed.

"I really wouldn't ignore him. A summons from Jorgan is like jury duty. When your number's up, you have to do it," Cosmo cautioned. Just then, the envelope floated in the air and spoke in Jorgan's voice.

"This assignment is from the Fairy Council, Timmy, so pay attention. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, AND YOU HAVE NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER, is to track down some unidentified magic users that have cropped up on our radar, determine their intentions and put a stop to them. Jorgan out," the envelope boomed and burst into flames. "P.S. There is a portal to their home dimension in your closet," another voice belonging to Jorgan echoed around the room.

"Oh, great. Jorgan's drafted us to do stuff he doesn't want to again. Let's get this over with," Timmy reacted with complete disinterest. Chloe was also against this, but not for the same reasons as Timmy.

"Are you sure this is wise? We don't even know what we're getting into," Chloe urged caution.

"I agree, however Jorgan will most likely throw us through that portal in my closet should we not do this, so let's save ourselves some yelling and pain and just go through. Besides, this will get me out of school tomorrow," Timmy argued.

"Can't argue with that," Chloe conceded sarcastically and they both went through the portal in Timmy's closet. When they emerged, the world they were in looked like something out of a five-year-old girl's storybook. Except it also looked like the merging of a modern-day setting with a fantasy one.

"This is too weird for me. I'd rather take Jorgan," Timmy resolved and went to go back, but the portal was gone.

"Errrr, Timmy," Wanda called. Timmy turned to face her and Cosmo, only for them to vanish instantly, leaving their fairy crowns and wands behind. Timmy gathered them up, shocked at the loss of his and Chloe's fairy friends.

"Now we have no magic. How are we supposed to finish Jorgan's mission now?!" Timmy exclaimed.

"You don't get the bigger picture here, do you? We are trapped in another dimension with no magic, no back-up, and no way home," Chloe summarised. Timmy then realised the severity of their situation.

"Uh-oh," Timmy responded.

Here's the last one:

In light of the discovery that magic itself has vanished, Albert, Kilstone, and Monogram were discussing alternative defence options against Bill. Thankfully, there have been no Bill sightings since they got back, but they weren't about to rest on their laurels. Deep down, Albert knew something big was going to happen, and soon.

"We have an entire archive of inventions that Phineas and Ferb have built over the years. We could utilise them," Kilstone suggested.

"Haven't those boys been through enough with Bill? To tell Phineas that Bill has returned would break him irreparably," Monogram shot down.

"What about time weapons? Brick and Savannah have given us plenty," Kilstone piped up.

"When you mess with time, it has nasty consequences and it should only be done if there is no other way," Albert pointed out.

"Like with Earthguard," Kilstone commented.

"All is not lost. With luck my message was received," Albert said with some hope.

"What message?" Monogram probed. Just then, Albert's yeoman was on the line.

"Sir, your appointment is here," the yeoman alerted Albert.

"Good, send him in," Albert instructed. The person he contacted came into his office. What took the two other men by surprise was that the door was still closed, he had walked through it.

"Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce this dimension's only human-ghost hybrid and, hopefully, our salvation. Say hello to Danny Phantom," Albert introduced the boy dressed in black with a white 'DP' logo on his chest and hair white as snow.

As you can see, my next few stories will cover Bill's activities in the Uncharted Realms, which are all based on Nickelodeon shows, the aftermath of what I call 'The Cleave' or the ending of SVTFOE and the set-up to the final confrontation with Bill. Please note that the order in which you see these scenes does not reflect the order in which they will be written. I'll get to work on these as soon as I get back.


End file.
